Association Between Ambient PM_2.5 And Children Hospital Admissions For Respiratory Diseases In Jinan

Objective:In order to provide a scientific evidence for the control of air pollution and the prevention of children’s respiratory diseases from 2011 to 2015.The association between daily air pollution and the hospital admissions for respiratory diseases in children aged from 0 to 17 years was investigated in Jinan,China.Methods:Generalized linear models were used to investigate the acute impact of fine particulate matter(PM_2.5) on hospitalization of children with respiratory diseases from January 1,2011 to December 31,2015.We evaluated the lag associations（including lag 0 to lag 3,lag 01 and lag 03）between daily PM_2.5 and the number of children hospital admissions for respiratory diseases for total,and stratified by genders,age groups（baby group:age 0-1 y;child group:age 1-5 y;student group:age 6-17 y）,and cause-specific diseases（including upper infection,pneumonia,acute bronchitis,and asthma）during 2011-2015.Results:Analysis of air pollution situation in Jinan City:The average concentrations of PM_2.5,PM₁₀,SO₂,NO₂,CO and O₃ in Jinan City from 2011 to 2015 were 100 ug/m³,169ug/m³,77 ug/m³,54 ug/m³,1401 ug/m³ and 98 ug/m³,respectively.The concentrations of PM_2.5,PM₁₀,SO₂ and NO₂ exceeded the second-level of national standards,which were 2.9,2.4,1.3 and 1.4 times of the second-level national standards.The influence of air pollution on the hospital admissions of children with respiratory diseases in Jinan City:PM_2.5 had significant positive effects on the number of children hospital admissions for respiratory diseases.It was found that per 10μg/m³ increasing in concentrations of PM_2.5 at lag 1 day were associated with an increase in risk of total,male and female hospital admissions of 0.32%（95%CI,0.04%～0.06%） and 0.10%（95%CI,-0.24%～0.45%）,respectively.The corresponding risk of the baby group（age 0-1 y）,child group（age 1-5 y）and student group（age 6-17 y）hospital admissions was increased 0.09%（95%CI,-0.25%～0.42%） and 0.90%（95%CI,0.39%-1.42%） at lag 1 day,respectively.The corresponding risk of the upper infection,pneumonia,acute bronchitis and asthma was increased 0.96%（95%CI,0.37%～1.55%）,0.19%（95%CI,-0.08%～0.46%）,-0.18%（95%CI,-0.66%～0.30%） and 0.39%（95%CI,-1.17%～1.98%） at lag 1 day,respectively.In the two/three-pollutant models,the associations between air pollutants and children hospital admissions across different gender,age groups,and cause-specific disease groups kept a fairly stable level and remained statistically significant.Conclusions:The increase of PM_2.5 concentration in Jinan was positively correlated with the hospital admissions of children with respiratory diseases.Male and student groups of children（aged 6-17 years）are sensitive groups to PM_2.5 and are more susceptible to it.Among all kinds of respiratory diseases,children are at the greatest risk of upper respiratory tract infection after PM_2.5 exposure.Therefore,when the air quality decreases and the concentration of PM_2.5 increases,reducing children’s outdoor activities and avoiding the impact of PM_2.5 on children’s health are effective ways to reduce respiratory diseases.