Correlation analysis of air pollution and the elderly hospital admissions for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the correlation between the atmospheric pollutant concentrations and the hospital admissions for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). Methods Daily data on inpatient visits to a Grade Ⅲ Class A Hospital in Taiyuan city for AECOPD and daily air pollution data in Taiyuan City from 2014 to 2016 were collected.Spearman correlation analysis was applied to examine the association between the atmospheric pollutant concentrations and the hospital admissions for AECOPD. Results The coefficient of rank correlation between monthly average hospital admissions for AECOPD and monthly average concentrations of SO2, CO, O3~8 h, PM2.5 was correspongingly 0.434, 0.508, -0.465, 0.362 and 0.444 (all P<0.05). In the meanwhile, monthly average hospital admissions of elderly man for AECOPD was positively related to monthly average concentrations of CO and fog and haze days, however, negatively to monthly average concentrations of O3~8 h in this study.Whereas a positive correlation between that of elderly woman and monthly average concentrations of SO2 and PM2.5 was found.NO2 concentration showed no statistical significance concerning the gender of the AECOPD inpatient. Conclusions The ambient air pollutant concentrations are associated with the hospital admissions for AECOPD to some degree.However, there is no evident association between NO2 concentration and the elderly AECOPD inpatients, but, a negative association between O3~8 h concentration and the elderly AECOPD inpatient.Elderly woman for AECOPD was more susceptible to concentrations of SO2 and PM2.5. Key words: Air pollution; Haze and fog; Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Spearman correlation analysis