Relationship between chronic exposure to ambient air pollution and mental health in Korean adult cancer survivors and the general population

BMC Cancer

Kyoung-bok Min¹  Hyun-Jin Kim²  Jin-young Min³  Yong-Seok Seo⁴ 

[1] Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, 103 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, 110-799, Seoul, Republic of Korea;National Cancer Control Institute, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Republic of Korea;Veterans Medical Research Institute, Veterans Health Service Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea;Young Jin Ind., Ltd., Icheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea;

关键词: Ambient air pollution;    Chronic exposure;    cancer;    Depressive symptoms;    Perceived stress;    Suicidal ideation;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12885-021-09013-x

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAlthough a significant association between air pollution and mental health has been identified, few studies have addressed this relationship based on cancer diagnosis. This study investigated whether associations between long-term air pollution and mental health conditions differ based on whether the individual has been diagnosed with cancer.MethodsNationally representative data were used and a total of 38,101 adults were included in the analyses. We assessed mental health factors such as perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation, and analyzed the associations between these factors and individuals’ annual average exposure to air pollutants, including particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤ 10 μm (PM10), nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and carbon monoxide.ResultsCompared with the general population, PM10 exposure in cancer survivors predicted a higher risk of depressive symptoms (odds ratio [OR] =1.34; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.06–1.69) and suicidal ideation (OR = 1.29; 95% CI = 1.01–1.64). Notably, the statistically significant relationship between PM10 exposure and suicidal ideation in cancer survivors disappeared after further adjustment for depressive symptoms (p = 0.3103). This pattern was also observed in the result of propensity score-matched analysis for comparison between cancer survivors and the general population.ConclusionsThis study provides the first evidence that cancer survivors with depressive symptoms may be more susceptible to suicidal ideation in the context of persistent PM10 exposure.

【 授权许可】

CC BY