Impact of air pollution on healthcare utilization in patients with bronchiectasis

Frontiers in Medicine

Medicine

Tae-Hyung Kim¹  Sung Jun Chung¹  Sang-Heon Kim¹  Jang Won Sohn¹  Dong Won Park¹  Hyun Lee¹  Ho Joo Yoon¹  Tai Sun Park¹  Ji-Yong Moon¹  Sun-Kyung Lee²  Sang Hyuk Kim³  Hayoung Choi⁴ 

[1] Division of Pulmonary Medicine and Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea;Division of Pulmonary Medicine and Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea;Department of Mathematics, College of Natural Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea;Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Dongguk University Gyeongju Hospital, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Gyeongju, Republic of Korea;Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea;

关键词: bronchiectasis;    public health;    environmental pollution;    air pollution;    particulate matter;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmed.2023.1233516

 received in 2023-06-02, accepted in 2023-09-05,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionAir pollutants are increasingly recognized to affect long-term outcomes in patients with bronchiectasis. We aimed to figure out the association between air pollutants and the risk of healthcare utilization in patients with bronchiectasis.MethodsData for 1,029 subjects with bronchiectasis in Seoul were extracted. The air pollutants included particulate matter of 10 μm or less in diameter (PM10), particulate matter of 2.5 μm or less in diameter (PM2.5), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The outcome was all-cause healthcare uses, defined as outpatient visit, emergency department visit, or hospitalization. The concentration–response curves between each air pollutant and relative risks for healthcare utilization were obtained.ResultsThere were significant correlations between air pollutant concentrations and the risk of healthcare utilization, particularly for PM10, NO2, SO2, and CO. This risk was observed even at concentrations below the recommended safe thresholds for the general population. The slopes for the association between PM10 and NO2 and the risk of healthcare use showed a logarithmic growth pattern, with the steepest increase up to 30 μg/m3 and 0.030 parts per million (ppm), respectively. The curves for SO2 and CO showed an inverted U-shaped pattern, with a peak at 0.0045 ppm and a slow upward curve, respectively. No specific trends were observed for PM2.5 and O3 and the risk of healthcare use.DiscussionIncreased concentrations of PM10, NO2, SO2, and CO were associated with increased healthcare utilization in patients with bronchiectasis. For patients with bronchiectasis, there were no safety thresholds for those air pollutants, and even low levels of air pollutant exposure can negatively impact bronchiectasis outcomes.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Lee, Kim, Lee, Choi, Chung, Park, Park, Moon, Kim, Kim, Sohn and Yoon.