title: Effects of Air Pollution on Hospital Emergency Room Visits for Respiratory Diseases: Urban-Suburban Differences in Eastern China.
abstract: A study on the relationships between ambient air pollutants (PM2.5, SO₂ and NO₂) and hospital emergency room visits (ERVs) for respiratory diseases from 2013 to 2014 was performed in both urban and suburban areas of Jinan, a heavily air-polluted city in Eastern China. This research was analyzed using generalized additive models (GAM) with Poisson regression, which controls for long-time trends, the "day of the week" effect and meteorological parameters. An increase of 10 μg/m³ in PM2.5, SO₂ and NO₂ corresponded to a 1.4% (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.7%, 2.1%), 1.2% (95% CI: 0.5%, 1.9%), and 2.5% (95%: 0.8%, 4.2%) growth in ERVs for the urban population, respectively, and a 1.5% (95%: 0.4%, 2.6%), 0.8% (95%: -0.7%, 2.3%), and 3.1% (95%: 0.5%, 5.7%) rise in ERVs for the suburban population, respectively. It was found that females were more susceptible than males to air pollution in the urban area when the analysis was stratified by gender, and the reverse result was seen in the suburban area. Our results suggest that the increase in ERVs for respiratory illnesses is linked to the levels of air pollutants in Jinan, and there may be some urban-suburban discrepancies in health outcomes from air pollutant exposure.
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China. lp901012@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Jinan 250014, China. wangxn1@126.com.
authors.forename: Xining
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Shandong Experimental High School, Jinan 250001, China. fanjiayin1999@sina.com.
authors.forename: Jiayin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: School of Foreign Languages and Literature, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China. legentracy@163.com.
authors.forename: Wenxin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China. wy@sdu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000289:Admitting Department, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D002947:Cities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012131:Respiratory Insufficiency / Q000209:etiology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013383:Suburban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013997:Time Factors; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants
keywords: air pollution; emergency room visits; respiratory diseases; urban-suburban discrepancies