Association of characteristics of patients visiting fever clinic with different air quality index in Beijing

Abstract

Objective To examine the association of characteristics of patients visiting fever clinic with different air quality index in Beijing. Methods Six days with highest ambient air quality index (AQI) (polluted weather group) and 6 days with lowest AQI (clear weather group) during February 1st to March 31th 2014 were selected as study period. The clinical data of patients, who visited in fever clinic of Peking University Third Hospital during the selected 12 days, were retrospectively analyzed. Results There were 417 patients in clean weather group and 481 in polluted weather group. There were no significant differences in duration of fever [(2.30±2.51)d vs. (2.18±2.58) d, χ2=0.701, P=0.484] and highest body temperature [(38.60±0.65)℃ vs. (38.57±0.66)℃, χ2=0.545, P=0.586] between two groups. The symptoms of cough, sore throat in pollution group were higher than those in clear group (52.39% vs. 45.56%, χ2=4.166, P=0.041; 50.52% vs. 42.21%, χ2=6.203, P=0.013, respectively). The proportion of cases diagnosed as influenza-like illness in polluted weather was higher than that in clear weather group (53.85% vs. 46.76%, χ2=4.484, P=0.034). Conclusion The results indicate that the symptoms cough and sore throat and influenza-like illness are increased in polluted weather in Beijing. Key words: Air pollution; Pneumonia; Influenza-like illness