The attributable risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease due to ambient fine particulate pollution among older adults

Hualiang Lin, Zhengmin (Min) Qian, Yanfei Guo, Yang Zheng, Siqi Ai, Jian Hang, Xiaojie Wang, Lingli Zhang, Tao Liu, Weijie Guan, Xing Li, Jianpeng Xiao, Weilin Zeng, Hong Xian, Steven W. Howard, Wenjun Ma, Fan Wu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

56 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: The linkage between ambient fine particle pollution (PM2.5) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the attributable risk remained largely unknown. This study determined the cross-sectional association between ambient PM2.5 and prevalence of COPD among adults ≥50 years of age. Methods: We surveyed 29,290 participants aged 50 years and above in this study. The annual average concentrations of PM2.5 derived from satellite data were used as the exposure indicator. A mixed effect model was applied to determine the associations and the burden of COPD attributable to PM2.5. Results: Among the participants, 1872 (6.39%) were classified as COPD cases. Our analysis observed a threshold concentration of 30 μg/m3 in the PM2.5-COPD association, above which we found a linear positive exposure-response association between ambient PM2.5 and COPD. The odds ratio (OR) for each 10 μg/m3 increase in ambient PM2.5 was 1.21(95% CI: 1.13, 1.30). Stratified analyses suggested that males, older subjects (65 years and older) and those with lower education attainment might be the vulnerable subpopulations. We further estimated that about 13.79% (95% CI: 7.82%, 21.62%) of the COPD cases could be attributable to PM2.5 levels higher than 30 μg/m3 in the study population. Conclusion: Our analysis indicates that ambient PM2.5 exposure could increase the risk of COPD and accounts for a substantial fraction of COPD among the study population.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)143-148
Number of pages6
JournalEnvironment international
Volume113
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2018

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Environmental Science

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