Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.2478/aiht-2023-74-3704
Short-term effects of air pollution on hospital admissions for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes mellitus in Sofia, Bulgaria (2009–2018)
Angel M. Dzhambov
orcid.org/0000-0003-2540-5111
; Medical University of Plovdiv Faculty of Public Health, Department of Hygiene, Plovdiv, Bulgaria 2 Graz University of Technology, Institute of Highway Engineering and Transport Planning, Graz, Austria
Krasimira Dikova
; Ministry of Health, National Centre of Public Health and Analyses, Sofia, Bulgaria
Tzveta Georgieva
; Ministry of Health, National Centre of Public Health and Analyses, Sofia, Bulgaria
Teodor I. Panev
; Ministry of Health, National Centre of Public Health and Analyses, Sofia, Bulgaria
Plamen Mukhtarov
; Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography, Sofia, Bulgaria
Reneta Dimitrova
; Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography, Sofia, Bulgaria 5 Sofia University “St. K. Ohridski” Faculty of Physics, Department of Meteorology and Geophysics, Sofia, Bulgaria
Abstract
Bulgaria has a very high incidence of cardiometabolic diseases and air pollution-related mortality rate. This study investigated the relationship between daily air pollution levels and hospital admissions for ischaemic heart diseases (IHD), cerebral infarction (CI), and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Sofia, Bulgaria. We obtained daily data on hospitals admissions and daily average air pollution levels from 2009 to 2018. Pollutants of interest were particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3), and carbon monoxide (CO). Negative binomial regressions were fitted to study the effects of air pollution on hospital admission over the course of seven days prior to that event, accounting for autocorrelations and time trend in the data, day of the week, temperature, and relative humidity. Our findings confirm that higher air pollution levels generally increase the risk of hospital admissions for IHD and CI. For T2DM the association is less clear. Admissions often lagged several days behind and were more common in specific demographic subgroups or when pollution crossed a particular threshold. However, we did not expect to find the risk of hospital admissions increased in warmer rather than colder months of the year. Our findings are to be taken with reservation but do provide an idea about how air pollution could trigger acute episodes of related cardiovascular diseases, and our model may serve to investigate similar associations across
the country.
Keywords
exacerbation; ischaemic heart diseases; particulate matter; stroke; time series; type 2 diabetes mellitus
Hrčak ID:
296532
URI
Publication date:
28.3.2023.
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