title: Emergency department visits and "vog"-related air quality in Hilo, Hawai'i.
abstract: Emergency department (ED) visits in Hilo, Hawai'i, from January 1997 to May 2001, were examined for associations with volcanic fog, or "vog", measured as sulfur dioxide (SO(2)) and submicrometer particulate matter (PM(1)). Exponential regression models were used with robust standard errors. Four diagnostic groups were examined: asthma/COPD; cardiac; flu, cold, and pneumonia; and gastroenteritis. Before adjustments, highly significant associations with vog-related air quality were seen for all diagnostic groups except gastroenteritis. After adjusting for month, year, and day of the week, only asthma/COPD had consistently positive associations with air quality. The strongest associations were for SO(2) with a 3-day lag (6.8% per 10 ppb; P=0.001) and PM(1), with a 1-day lag (13.8% per 10 microg/m(3); P=0.011). The association of ED visits for asthma/COPD with month of the year was stronger than associations seen with air quality. Although vog appears influential, non-vog factors dominated associations with the frequency of asthma/COPD ED visits.
authors.affiliation: Natural Sciences Division, Department of Chemistry, University of Hawaii at Hilo, 200 West Kawili Street W18, Hilo, HI 96728, USA. jonpierr@hawaii.edu
authors.forename: Jon-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Michaud
authors.forename: John Sinclair
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Grove
authors.forename: Dmitry
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Krupitsky
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology; D003139:Common Cold / Q000453:epidemiology; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006254:Hawaii / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000453:epidemiology; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013458:Sulfur Dioxide / Q000032:analysis*; D018707:Volcanic Eruptions
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D013458:Sulfur Dioxide