| This time-series study has examined the entire spectrum of physician visit data in investigating the cardiovascular effects of short-term exposure to PM2.5 in Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), Nova Scotia from 2001 to 2003. Associations between PM2.5 and health outcomes were estimated using single-pollutant generalized additive models (GAMs) after controlling for long-term temporal trends and meteorological conditions with LOESS smoothers. Associations were presented as relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) per 10 mug/m3 increment. For total cardiovascular diseases (CVD), 6-day lagged PM2.5 is significantly associated with emergency room visits in age 40--64 (RR = 1.052) and age 65 and up (RR = 1.080) adults. For cause-specific CVD in age 40 and up adults, PM2.5 is significantly associated with emergency room visits for dysrhythmias (RR = 1.086, lag 6), ischemic heart disease (IHD) (RR = 1.092, lag 6), and heart failure (HF) (RR = 1.068, lag 3), and outpatient visits for DYS (RR = 1.089, lag 4) and IHD (RR = 1.104, lag 3). |
