Research round-up

Abstract

With data from a prospective cohort study, Lin and colleagues examine the effects of air pollution and smoking on depression. Data were analysed for 41 785 individuals from 6 low and middle income countries. Analysis showed an association between air pollution and risk of depression: for each 10μg/m3 increase in ambient fine particulate matter pollution, the adjusted odds ratio (OR) for depression was 1·10 (95% CI 1·02–1·19). Tobacco smoking was also linked with increased risk of depressive symptoms (>8 cigarettes per day: OR 1·27 [95% CI 1·13–1·43]). There was some evidence that the combined effects of air pollution and tobacco consumption were greater than the added effects of the individual components, although the association was not significant when a multiplicative model was used.