Relationship between the Mortality Rate of Cardio-cerebrovascular Disease and Air Quality: a Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the relationship between the mortality rate of cardio-cerebrovascular disease and the emission of main air pollutants, and based on this, to explore the influence of air quality on the incidence of such kind of disease and people’s health. Methods: We conducted this cross-sectional study in a simple random sample of 15 representative provinces (municipalities). Using the mean mortality rates of coronary heart disease (CHD) and cerebrovascular disease (CD), mean emission of SO2, NOx and dust as variables of Y1, Y2, X1, X2, X3, respectively. We established multiple linear regression model 1 for investigating the relationship between mortality rate of CHD and air quality, and multiple linear regression model 2 for investigating the relationship of mortality rate of CD with air quality. SAS software was used to perform the analysis based on ridge regression model. Results: The formula for calculating the mortality rate of CHD was derived from model 1: Y1=0.022 08+0.287 93X1+0.188 73X2+0.272 63X3(R2=0.879 2, F=4.58, P=0.018 2), showing that the mortality rate of CHD was positively correlated with the emission of SO2, NOx and dust, and it was influenced the most by the emission of SO2, followed by the emission of dust and NOx. The formula for calculating the mortality rate of CD was derived from model 2: Y2=0.018 77+0.394 69X1+0.147 97X2+0.244 25X3(R2=0.897 4, F=5.68, P=0.008 4), indicating that the mortality rate of CD was positively correlated with the emission of SO2, NOx and dust, and it was affected the most by the emission of SO2, followed by the emission of dust and NOx. Conclusion: The mortality rate of cardio-cerebrovascular disease is closely related to air pollution. Air quality is an important factor associated with cardio-cerebrovascular disease and people’s health. Therefore, it is urgent to control air pollution to promote people’s health.