Air Pollution and Hospital Admissions for Pneumonia in A Tropical City: Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Abstract

This study was undertaken to determine whether there was an association between air pollutant levels and hospital admissions for pneumonia in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Hospital admissions for pneumonia and ambient air pollution data for Kaohsiung were obtained for the period of 1996–2004. The relative risk of hospital admission was estimated using a case-crossover approach, controlling for weather variables, day of the week, seasonality, and long-term time trends. In the single-pollutant models, on warm days (=25°C) statistically significant positive associations were found for all pollutants. On cool days (<25°C), all pollutants were also significantly associated with number of pneumonia admissions. For the two-pollutant model, O₃ and CO were significant in combination with each of the other four pollutants on warm days. On cool days, PM₁₀ and NO₂ remained statistically significant in all the two-pollutant models. This study provides evidence that higher levels of ambient air pollutants increase the risk of hospital admissions for pneumonia. The effects of air pollutants on hospital admissions for pneumonia were temperature dependent.

This study was partly supported by a grant from the National Science Council, Executive Yuan, Taiwan (NSC-95–2314-B-070-MY2). This study is based in part on data from the National Insurance Research Database provided by the Bureau of National Health Insurance, Department of Health, and managed by National Health Research Institutes. The interpretation and conclusions contained herein do not represent those of Bureau of National Health Insurance, Department of Health, or National Health Research Institutes.