Relationship of Air Pollution and Pediatric Respiratory Diseases in Incheon City / 소아알레르기및호흡기학회지

PURPOSE: It is generally accepted that the air pollution can cause acute respiratory diseases. This study was undertaken to investigate the relationship between the increase in the level of air pollutants and hospital visits for pediatric respiratory diseases in Incheon city. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of pediatric patients who visited the outpatient department(OPD) of Inha University Hospital for respiratory diseases(such as bronchial asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis, bronchiolitis and URI) from January 1 to December 31 1997. We converted the data into an average per day that included meteorologic data of air pollution(such as O3, CO, SO2, NO2, and PM10) and weather data(such as atmospheric temperature, relative humidity) in three different places in Incheon city. We used a Poisson distribution, selecting a lowess statistics model. We also used the S-PLUS statistics program. RESULTS: Ozone(O3), CO, and SO2 were all found to have significant associations with the OPD visits for pediatric respiratory diseases. After meteorologic variables(such as CO, SO2, NO2, PM10, atmospheric temperature, and relative humidity) controlled, we determined the relative risk between the increase in the OPD visits for respiratory diseases and every 0.01 ppm increase in O3. The relative risk was 1.16 and the 95% confidence intervals were 1.12-1.20. CONCLUSION: There was a significant relationship between the incidence of pediatric respiratory diseases and the increase in the level of air pollutants, especially O3, CO, and SO2 in Incheon city. Further studies on the effects of continuous daily exposure to low or ambient levels of air pollutants are needed.

Study on the Interrelationship of Air Pollution and Respiratory Diseases in Inchon City Via Children Who Visited the Emergency Room of Inha University Hospital

PURPOSE: It is generally accepted that air pollution can cause acute respiratory diseases. This study assessed the relationship between air pollution and development of pediatric respiratory diseases in Inchon city. METHODS: We studied a number of pediatric patients who developed respiratory diseases such as bronchial asthma, bronchiolitis, URI, bronchitis and pneumonia and visited the Inha University Hospital emergency room from January to December 31 1997. We converted the data into an average per day that included meteorologic data of air pollution(such as CO, NO2, O3, SO2, and PM10) and weather data(such as atmospheric temperature, relative humidity) in three different places in Inchon city. We used a Poisson distribution, selecting a lowess statistics model. We also used the S-Plus statistics program. RESULTS: After several variables were controlled, we determined the relative risks between the incidence of pediatric respiratory diseases and air pollutants as CO=0.92, NO2=1.12, 03=1.21, SO2= 1.04, and PM10=1.00. The 95% confidence intervals were CO=0.88-0.19, NO2=1.05-1.14, O3=1.09- 1.28, SO2=1.07-1.31, and PM10=1.01-1.05. CONCLUSION: There was a significant association between the incidence of pediatric respiratory diseases and the level of air pollutants, especially NO2, O3, SO2, and PMio in Inchon city. More studies on air pollution and its effect on pediatric respiratory diseases are needed.