Effects of air pollution and seasons on health-related quality of life of Mongolian adults living in Ulaanbaatar: cross-sectional studies

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Hisamitsu Omori¹  Yoko Ishihara²  Motoyuki Nakao²  Keiko Yamauchi²  Dashtseren Ichinnorov³  Bandi Solongo³ 

[1] Department of Biomedical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan;Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Kurume University, 67 Asahimachi, 830-0011, Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan;Department of Respiratory Medicine, Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia;

关键词: Health-related quality of life;    Air pollution;    Coal;    Solid fuel;    Respiratory symptoms;    Mongolia;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-017-4507-1

 received in 2016-09-07, accepted in 2017-06-14,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundUlaanbaatar, Mongolia, is known as severely air-polluted city in the world due to increased coal consumption in the cold season. The health effects of air pollution in Mongolia such as mortality, morbidity and symptoms have been previously reported. However, the concept of health-related quality of life (HR-QoL), which refers to the individual’s perception of well-being, should also be included as an adverse health outcome of air pollution.MethodsSurveys on the Mongolian people living in Ulaanbaatar were performed in the warm and cold seasons. Self-completed questionnaires on the subjects’ HR-QoL, data from health checkups and pulmonary function tests by respiratory specialists were collected for Mongolian adults aged 40–79 years (n = 666). Ambient PM2.5 and PM10 were concurrently sampled and the components were analyzed to estimate the source of air pollution.ResultsIn logistic regression analyses, respiratory symptoms and smoke-rich fuels were associated with reduced HR-QoL (> 50th percentile vs. ≤ 50th percentile). PM 2.5 levels were much higher in the cold season (median 86.4 μg/m3 (IQR: 58.7–121.0)) than in the warm season (12.2 μg/m3 (8.9–21.2). The receptor model revealed that the high PM2.5 concentration in the cold season could be attributed to solid fuel combustion. The difference in HR-QoL between subjects with and without ventilatory impairment was assessed after the stratification of the subjects by season and household fuel type. There were no significant differences in HR-QoL between subjects with and without ventilatory impairment regardless of household fuel type in the warm season. In contrast, subjects with ventilatory impairment who used smoke-rich fuel in the cold season had a significantly lower HR-QoL.ConclusionsOur study showed that air pollution in Ulaanbaatar worsened in the cold season and was estimated to be contributed by solid fuel combustion. Various aspects of HR-QoL in subjects with ventilatory impairment using smoke-rich fuels deteriorated only in the cold season while those with normal lung function did not. These results suggest that countermeasures or interventions by the policymakers to reduce coal usage would improve HR-QoL of the residents of Ulaanbaatar, especially for those with ventilatory impairment in the winter months.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017