Changes in air quality and its effect on emergency admissions

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Air pollution is an emerging problem in developing countries as well as the world. Effects of air pollution due to short-term exposure may lead to increase in daily mortality, respiratory and cardiovascular hospital admissions, respiratory and cardiovascular emergency room admissions, respiratory and cardiovascular primary care visits and acute respiratory symptoms. The objective of our study was to examine the relationship between air pollution and diagnoses of patients in family medicine outpatient clinic located in emergency room. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Our study enrolled 17869 patients who were admitted to the family practice outpatient clinic implemented in emergency department. The relationship between patients’ diagnosis and air quality was examined. RESULTS: The genders of the patients were 50.8% female (n = 9077) and 49.2% male (n = 8792). The mean age was 43.9 ± 19.9. Respiratory system diagnosis showed a statistically significant relationship with the air quality measurement of PM10 (p < 0.05). Patients diagnosed with upper respiratory tract disease and fatigue and hypertension on sensitive air days were found to be significantly higher than those with good air quality. There was a statistical significance between air temperature, and fatigue and cough complaints (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: For human health protection, continuity of life, and environmental sustainability, air pollution should be reduced and brought under control. In our study, with the increase of particulate matter, we observed that patients with respiratory system diseases, fatigue complaints, and hypertension increased. Sharing these results with province-wide authorities may help the settlement and industrial planning in the upcoming years.