Association between air pollution and asthma exacerbations in Badalona, Barcelona (Spain), 2008-2016

Abstract

Introduction and objective: Air pollution has been widely associated with respiratory diseases. Nevertheless, association between air pollution and exacerbations of asthma in our area has been less studied. To analyse the effect of air pollution on exacerbations of asthma in Badalona.

Material and methods: This was an observational study conducted in Badalona. The number of daily hospital admissions and accident and emergency visits related to exacerbation of asthma between 2008 and 2016 was obtained. We used simple Poisson regressions to test the effects of daily mean temperature, atmospheric pressure, relative humidity, and NO₂, SO₂ and CO levels on asthma-related emergencies and hospitalisations the same day and 1-4 days after. All p-values were corrected for multiple comparisons.

Results: The number of hospitalisations was associated with low temperature (lags 0 to 4) and higher levels of NO₂ (lags 0, 1, 2 and 4) and atmospheric pressure (lags 2 and 3). The number of accident and emergency visits was associated with low temperature (lags 0 to 4) and higher levels of NO₂ (lags 2, 3 and 4).

Conclusions: The number of accident and emergency visits and hospitalisations for exacerbation of asthma is associated with higher levels of NO₂ and with lower temperatures.

Keywords: Agudización; Asma bronquial; Asthma; Contaminación; Dióxido de nitrógeno; Exacerbation; NO(2); Nitrogen dioxide; Pollution.