Abstract
Objective
To examine the role that ambient air pollution plays in exacerbating cardiovascular disease hospitalization in Windsor, Ontario.
Methods
The number of daily cardiac hospital admissions was obtained from all Windsor hospitals from April 1, 1995 to December 31, 2000 and linked to concentrations of ambient air pollutants and weather variables. The logarithm of daily counts of hospitalization was regressed on the levels of pollutants, after adjusting for seasonal, weekly cycles, and weather variables using time series analysis with natural splines as smoothing functions.
Results
Of all the pollutants considered, sulphur dioxide (SO2) had the strongest effect on cardiac hospitalization among the >65 age group. The percentage increase in daily admission was 2.6% for current day sulphur dioxide level (95% CI: 0.5-6.4), 4.0% for 2-day mean level (95% CI: 0.1-6.9), and 5.6% (95% CI: 1.5–9.9) for 3-day mean level for an increase in interquartile range of 19.3 ppb. When particulate PM10 was included in the model, the contributing effect of sulphur dioxide remained significant for the >65 age group for all three levels.
Conclusions
Short-term effects of sulphur dioxide are associated significantly to daily cardiac hospital admissions for people >65 years of age living in Windsor. Since Windsor is a border city, additional monitoring and assessment is recommended to determine if air quality and resultant health effects have deteriorated since traffic congestion at the border has increased following the events of September 11, 2001.
MeSH terms: air pollution, cardiovascular diseases, hospitalization
Réumé
Objectif
Examiner le rôle que joue la pollution atmosphérique dans l’exacerbation des hospitalisations dues aux maladies cardiovasculaires à Windsor, en Ontario.
Méthode
Nous avons demandé à tous les hôpitaux de Windsor de nous communiquer le nombre quotidien d’hospitalisations dues aux maladies cardiaques pour la période du 1er avril 1995 au 31 décembre 2000, et nous avons lié ces données aux concentrations de polluants atmosphériques et aux variations météorologiques. Après avoir apporté des ajustements pour tenir compte des effets des cycles saisonniers et hebdomadaires et des variations météorologiques, nous avons régressé le logarithme des hospitalisations quotidiennes sur les niveaux de polluants en utilisant la méthode de l’analyse des séries chronologiques avec lissage par fonctions splines naturelles.
Résultats
De tous les polluants étudiés, l’anhydride sulfureux (SO2) exerçait l’effet le plus marqué sur les hospitalisations pour maladies cardiaques dans le groupe des plus de 65 ans. Pour une hausse de 19,3 parties par milliard dans l’écart interquartile, le taux d’augmentation des hospitalisations quotidiennes était de 2,6% selon le niveau d’anhydride sulfureux dans la journée (IC de 95% = 0,5–6,4), de 4% selon son niveau moyen sur deux jours (IC de 95% = 0,1–6,9) et de 5,6% selon son niveau moyen sur trois jours (IC de 95% = 1,5–9,9). En incluant la matière particulaire MP10 dans ce modèle, l’effet de l’anhydride sulfureux est demeuré significatif à tous les trois niveaux dans le groupe d’âge des plus de 65 ans.
Conclusions
Les effets à court terme de l’anhydride sulfureux sont associés de façon significative aux hospitalisations quotidiennes dues aux maladies cardiaques chez les personnes de plus de 65 ans vivant à Windsor. Windsor étant une ville frontalière, il serait recommandé d’accroître la surveillance et l’évaluation pour déterminer si la qualité de l’air et ses effets sur la santé se sont détériorés depuis l’augmentation de l’encombrement de la circulation à la frontière qui a suivi les événements du 11 septembre 2001.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements: This research was supported in part by an NSERC operating grant to K. Fung, by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research investigator award to K. Gorey and an associated partnership appointment to I. Luginaah
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