November 13, 2013

An Association between Air Pollution and Daily Outpatient Visits for Respiratory Disease in a Heavy Industry Area

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PLoS One. 2013; 8(10): e75220.
Published online 2013 October 25. doi:  10.1371/journal.pone.0075220
PMCID: PMC3808380

An Association between Air Pollution and Daily Outpatient Visits for Respiratory Disease in a Heavy Industry Area

Malcolm Gracie Semple, Editor

Abstract

In this work we used daily outpatient data from the Landseed Hospital in a heavily industrial area in northern Taiwan to study the associations between daily outpatient visits and air pollution in the context of a heavily polluted atmospheric environment in Chung-Li area during the period 2007–2011. We test the normality of each data set, control for the confounding factors, and calculate correlation coefficient between the outpatient visits and air pollution and meteorology, and use multiple linear regression analysis to seek significance of these associations. Our results show that temperature and relative humidity tend to be negatively associated with respiratory diseases. NO and An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is pone.0075220.e001.jpg are two main air pollutants that are positively associated with respiratory diseases, followed by An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
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Object name is pone.0075220.e004.jpg, CO, andAn external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is pone.0075220.e005.jpg. Young outpatients (age 0–15 years) are most sensitive to changing air pollution and meteorology factors, followed by the eldest (age An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is pone.0075220.e006.jpg66 years) and age 16–65 years of outpatients. Outpatients for COPD diseases are most sensitive to air pollution and meteorology factors, followed by allergic rhinitis, asthma, and pneumonia diseases. In the context of sex difference to air pollution and meteorological factors, male outpatients are more sensitive than female outpatients in the 16–65 age groups, while female outpatients are more sensitive than male outpatients in the young 0–15 age groups and in the eldest age groups. In total, female outpatients are more sensitive to air pollution and meteorological factors than male outpatients.

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