A retrospective investigation of PM10 in ambient air and cardiopulmonary hospital admissions in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: 1995-2000.
OBJECTIVE
Air quality in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, has improved over the last decade, and we investigated whether the lower concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM10) are still associated with adverse health outcomes.


METHODS
Daily cardiopulmonary hospital admissions in elderly residents of Allegheny County and countywide average PM10 measures were available from 1995 through 2000. Using generalized additive models (GAM), a Poisson regression model was fit to the number of daily admissions using predictor variables: lags of PM10, daily temperature and humidity, day of the week, and time.


RESULTS
Our findings suggest that there is a positive association of PM10 with hospital admissions, and the effect is related to current-day PM10 levels.


CONCLUSIONS
Even at the lower levels of ambient air pollution as measured by PM10, there is still a suggestion of an adverse health effect in the elderly.
Arena
Vincent C
VC
Department of Biostatistics, University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA. arena@pitt.edu
Mazumdar
Sati
S
Zborowski
Jeanne V
JV
Talbott
Evelyn O
EO
He
Shui
S
Chuang
Ya-Hsiu
YH
Schwerha
Joseph J
JJ
D000368:Aged; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010414:Pennsylvania / Q000453:epidemiology; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D012621:Seasons; D014887:Weather
D000393:Air Pollutants