Air pollutants and health outcomes: Assessment of confounding by influenza |
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| Authors: | Thuan-Quoc Thach Chit-Ming Wong King-Pan Chan Yuen-Kwan Chau G Neil Thomas Chun-Quan Ou Lin Yang Joseph SM Peiris Tai-Hing Lam Anthony J Hedley |
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| Institution: | 1. National Center for Chronic and Noncommunicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China;2. School of Public Health, Key Lab of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment of the Ministry of Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China;3. Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta 30322, GA, USA;4. Division of Occupational and Environmental Health, JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China;5. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China;1. Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, TX 77030, USA;2. Department of Management, Policy and Community, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, TX 77030, USA;3. Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, TX, USA 77030;4. Department of Health Services Administration, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA;5. Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, TX 77030, USA;1. Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 115 27, Goudi, Athens, Greece;2. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, College of Public Health, 4301 West Markham St. Little Rock, AR 72205-7199, USA;1. Division of Environment, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, China;2. Institute for the Environment, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, China;3. Department of Mathematics, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, China |
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| Abstract: | We assessed confounding of associations between short-term effects of air pollution and health outcomes by influenza using Hong Kong mortality and hospitalization data for 1996–2002.Three measures of influenza were defined: (i) intensity: weekly proportion of positive influenza viruses, (ii) epidemic: weekly number of positive influenza viruses ≥4% of the annual number for ≥2 consecutive weeks, and (iii) predominance: an epidemic period with co-circulation of respiratory syncytial virus <2% of the annual positive isolates for ≥2 consecutive weeks. We examined effects of influenza on associations between nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm (PM10) and ozone (O3) and health outcomes including all natural causes mortality, cardiorespiratory mortality and hospitalization. Generalized additive Poisson regression model with natural cubic splines was fitted to control for time-varying covariates to estimate air pollution health effects. Confounding with influenza was assessed using an absolute difference of >0.1% between unadjusted and adjusted excess risks (ER%).Without adjustment, pollutants were associated with positive ER% for all health outcomes except asthma and stroke hospitalization with SO2 and stroke hospitalization with O3. Following adjustment, changes in ER% for all pollutants were <0.1% for all natural causes mortality, but >0.1% for mortality from stroke with NO2 and SO2, cardiac or heart disease with NO2, PM10 and O3, lower respiratory infections with NO2 and O3 and mortality from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with all pollutants. Changes >0.1% were seen for acute respiratory disease hospitalization with NO2, SO2 and O3 and acute lower respiratory infections hospitalization with PM10. Generally, influenza does not confound the observed associations of air pollutants with all natural causes mortality and cardiovascular hospitalization, but for some pollutants and subgroups of cardiorespiratory mortality and respiratory hospitalization there was evidence to suggest confounding by influenza. |
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