Greenness mitigate cause-specific mortality associated with air pollutants in ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke patients: An ecological health cohort study

Abstract

BackgroundAir pollution is one of the most serious environmental risks to mortality of stroke. However, there exists a noteworthy knowledge gap concerning the different stroke subtypes, causes of death, the susceptibility of stroke patient, and the role of greenness in this context. MethodsWe analyzed data from an ecological health cohort, which included 334,261 patients aged ≥40 years with stroke (comprising 288,490 ischemic stroke and 45,771 hemorrhagic stroke) during the period 2013–2019. We used Cox proportional hazards models with time-varying exposure to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to assess the associations of annual average fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3) with both all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Additionally, we conducted analyses to examine the effect modification by greenness and identify potential susceptibility factors through subgroup analyses. ResultIn multivariable-adjusted models, long-term exposure to PM2.5 and NO2 was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality (HR: 1.038, 95% CI: 1.029–1.047 for PM2.5; HR: 1.055, 95% CI: 1.026–1.085 for NO2, per 10 μg/m3, for ischemic stroke patients; similar for hemorrhagic stroke patients). Gradually increasing effect sizes were shown for CVD mortality and stroke mortality. The HRs of mortality were slightly weaker with high versus low vegetation exposure. Cumulative exposures increased the HRs of pollutant-related mortality, and greater greenness decreased this risk. Two subtypes of stroke patients exhibited diverse patterns of benefit. ConclusionIncreasing residential greenness attenuates the increased risk of mortality with different patterns due to chronic air pollutants for ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, offering valuable insights for precise tertiary stroke prevention strategies.