Abstract
Background and ObjectivesMany studies have shown the adverse effects of air pollution on respiratory health, but few have examined the effects of air pollution on service utilisation in the primary care setting. The aim of this study was to examine the association between air pollution and the daily number of consultations due to upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) in general outpatient clinics (GOPCs) in Hong Kong.MethodsDaily data on the numbers of consultations due to URTIs in GOPCs, the concentrations of major air pollutants, and the mean values of metrological variables were retrospectively collected over a 3-year period (2008–2010, inclusive). Generalised additive models were constructed to examine the association between air pollution and the daily number of consultations, and to derive the relative risks and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of GOPC consultations for a unit increase in the concentrations of air pollutants.ResultsThe mean daily consultations due to URTIs in GOPCs ranged from 68.4 to 253.0 over the study period. The summary relative risks (and 95% CI) of daily consultations in all GOPCs for the air pollutants PM10, NO2, O3, and SO2 were 1.005 (1.002, 1.009), 1.010 (1.006, 1.013), 1.009 (1.006, 1.012), and 1.004 (1.000, 1.008) respectively, per 10 µg/m3 increase in the concentration of each pollutant.ConclusionSignificant associations were found between the daily number of consultations due to URTIs in GOPCs and the concentrations of air pollutants, implying that air pollution incurs a substantial morbidity and increases the burden of primary health care services.
Highlights
Most epidemiological time series studies on air pollution focus on hospital admissions and mortality as health outcomes. [1,2,3,4,5,6] These outcomes represent, respectively, serious morbidity and the ultimate health consequence of air pollution
In a previous study we conducted in Hong Kong, we invited 13 private general practitioners (GPs) to manually record the daily number of patients consulted for respiratory diseases
The aim of this study is to examine the effects of air pollution on the frequency of consultations for upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) in the public primary care clinics
Summary
Most epidemiological time series studies on air pollution focus on hospital admissions and mortality as health outcomes. [1,2,3,4,5,6] These outcomes represent, respectively, serious morbidity and the ultimate health consequence of air pollution. In a previous study we conducted in Hong Kong, we invited 13 private general practitioners (GPs) to manually record the daily number of patients consulted for respiratory diseases. We used these data to examine the association between the number of GP consultations and the concentration of air pollutants [13]. The aim of this study was to examine the association between air pollution and the daily number of consultations due to upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) in general outpatient clinics (GOPCs) in Hong Kong
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