Long-Term Exposure to Air Pollution Tied to More Hospital Admissions

Findings seen for both all-cause and cause-specific hospital admissions

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Dec. 19, 2024 (HealthDay News) — There is an association between long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and increased all-cause and cause-specific hospital admissions for both physical and behavioral illnesses, according to a study published online Dec. 18 in BMJ Open.

Mary Abed Al Ahad, Ph.D., from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and colleagues investigated the association between long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and all-cause and cause-specific hospital admissions. The analysis included data from 202,237 individuals participating in the Scottish Longitudinal Study with data linked to yearly concentrations of four pollutants (nitrogen dioxide [NO₂], sulfur dioxide [SO₂], particulate matter diameter ≤10 μm [PM₁₀] and ≤2.5 μm [PM_2.5]) at 1 km² spatial resolution using the individual’s residential postcode for each year between 2002 and 2017.

The researchers found that higher exposure to NO₂, PM₁₀, and PM_2.5 was associated with a higher incidence of all-cause, cardiovascular, respiratory, and infectious hospital admissions both before adjusting for the area of residence and in fully adjusted models when considering cumulative exposure across time. Specifically, in fully adjusted models, the incidence rate for respiratory hospital admissions increased by 4.2 and 1.2 percent per 1 μg/m³ increase in PM_2.5and NO₂ pollutants, respectively. There were associations of SO₂ with respiratory hospital admissions (incidence rate ratio, 1.016) and NO₂ with a higher incidence of hospital admissions for mental and behavioral disorders (incidence rate ratio, 1.021). Positive associations were seen for average cumulative exposure to air pollution and higher rates of hospital admissions.

“Policies and interventions on air pollution through stricter environmental regulations, long-term planning and the shifting towards renewable energy could eventually help ease the hospital care burden in Scotland in the long term,” the authors write.