Relative impact of meteorological factors and air pollutants on childhood allergic diseases in Shanghai, China

Abstract

BackgroundNon-optimal weather conditions and air pollution pose a significant threat to children's health. However, the relative impact of different environmental exposures on childhood allergic diseases remains unclear. ObjectivesThis study aimed to quantify the relative impact of meteorological factors and air pollutants on childhood allergic diseases in Shanghai, China. MethodsData on clinical visits due to childhood asthma, allergic rhinitis (AR) and atopic dermatitis (AD) from 2007 to 2017 in Shanghai were collected from Shanghai Children's Medical Center and Xinhua Hospital. The meteorological data (i.e. daily mean temperature, temperature difference, air pressure, air pressure difference, precipitation, relative humidity, sunshine and wind speed) for the same period were obtained from the Shanghai Meteorological Center. Air pollution data (PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2 and O3) were provided by the Shanghai Environmental Protection Agency. Quasi-Poisson regression with distributed lag non-linear models and Poisson regression combined with generalized linear models were used to assess the relative impact of meteorological factors and air pollutants on childhood allergic diseases. ResultsThere were a total of 2,410,392 cases of childhood allergic diseases, including 975,771 asthma, 646,975 AR and 787,646 AD. Most of environmental factors were significantly associated with childhood allergic diseases. Daily mean temperature (standard β: −0.076 (95% confidence interval (CI): −0.086, −0.067)) and air pressure (standard β: 0.075 (95% CI: 0.068, 0.082)) seemed to play more important roles than other environmental factors in the occurrence of these allergic diseases. The numbers of these allergic diseases attributable to an interquartile range (IQR) change in meteorological factors also appeared to be greater than those attributable to an IQR change in air pollutants. ConclusionsBoth climatic variation and air pollution were associated with childhood allergic diseases, but the former appeared to play a more important role in the occurrence of these diseases. These findings may have significant implications for the development of tailored strategies to prevent these rapidly-increasing diseases worldwide.