title: Ambient PM2.5 and Risk of Hospital Admissions: Do Risks Differ for Men and Women?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  While strong evidence exists for associations between fine particles (PM2.5) and health, less is known about whether associations differ by sex.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used Bayesian hierarchical modeling to estimate associations between PM2.5, based on ambient monitors, and risk of cause-specific cardiovascular and respiratory hospitalizations for about 12.6 million Medicare beneficiaries (>65 years) residing in 213 US counties for 1999-2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Point estimates were higher for women than men for almost all causes of hospitalization. PM2.5 risks were higher for women than men for respiratory tract infection, cardiovascular, and heart rhythm disturbance admissions. A 10 μg/m(3) increase in same-day PM2.5 was associated with a 1.13% increased risk of heart rhythm disturbance admissions for women (95% posterior interval [PI]: 0.63%, 1.63%), and 0.03% for men (95% PI: -0.48%, 0.55%). Differences remained after stratification by age and season.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Women may be more susceptible to PM2.5-related hospitalizations for some respiratory and cardiovascular causes.
authors.affiliation: From the aSchool of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT; bDepartment of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD; and cDepartment of Biostatistics, T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
authors.forename: Michelle L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.forename: Ji-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Son
authors.forename: Roger D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dominici
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare; D052638:Particulate Matter; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D052638:Particulate Matter