The Effects of Air Quality on Hospital Admissions for Chronic Respiratory Diseases in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, 2013–2015

Atmosphere

Amanda Wood¹  Suhanya Parthasarath¹  Maw Pin Tan²  Simon P. Frostick³  Margaret M. Roebuck⁴  Ivy Chung⁵  Pooi-Fong Wong⁵  Andrew Morse⁶  Karyn Morrissey⁷ 

[1] Centre for Drug Research, University Sains Malaysia, George Town 11800, Malaysia;Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia;Department of Molecular and Clinical Cancer Medicine, Institute of Translational Medicine, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L3 9TA, UK;Department of Musculoskeletal & Ageing Science, Institute of Life Course & Medical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L7 8TX, UK;Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia;Geography and Planning, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L7 8TX, UK;The European Centre for the Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter, Truro TR1 3HD, UK;

关键词: air pollution;    chronic respiratory disease;    hospital admissions;    urban poor;    Malaysia;   

DOI  :  10.3390/atmos12081060

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

This study assesses the impact of a decrease in air quality and the risk of hospital admissions to a public hospital for chronic respiratory diseases for residents of Petaling Jaya, a city in the Greater Kuala Lumpur area in Malaysia. Data on hospital admissions for asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and other chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, weather conditions and the Malaysian Air Pollution Index, a composite indicator of air quality, were collated. An unconstrained distributed lag model to obtain risk of hospitalization for a 10 μg/m³ increase in the API. The lag cumulative effect for a 10 μg/m³ increase in the API was calculated to test for harvesting in the short term. Findings indicate that after an initial decrease in admissions (days 3 and 4), admissions increased again at day 7 and 8 and this relationship was significant. We therefore conclude that a 10 μg/m³ increase has a greater effect on admissions for respiratory health in the short term than a harvesting effect alone would suggest. These results suggest that while air quality is improving in the Greater Kuala Lumpur area, no level of air pollution can be deemed safe.

【 授权许可】

Unknown