Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2017 Feb;14(1):113-121.
doi: 10.1080/15412555.2016.1216956. Epub 2016 Aug 26.

Outdoor Air Pollution and COPD-Related Emergency Department Visits, Hospital Admissions, and Mortality: A Meta-Analysis

Rebecca DeVries, David Kriebel  1 , Susan Sama  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Outdoor Air Pollution and COPD-Related Emergency Department Visits, Hospital Admissions, and Mortality: A Meta-Analysis

Rebecca DeVries et al. COPD. 2017 Feb.

Abstract

A systematic literature review was performed to identify all peer-reviewed literature quantifying the association between short-term exposures of particulate matter <2.5 microns (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) and COPD-related emergency department (ED) visits, hospital admissions (HA), and mortality. These results were then pooled for each pollutant through meta-analyses with a random effects model. Subgroup meta-analyses were explored to study the effects of selected lag/averaging times and health outcomes. A total of 37 studies satisfied our inclusion criteria, contributing to a total of approximately 1,115,000 COPD-related acute events (950,000 HAs, 80,000 EDs, and 130,000 deaths) to our meta-estimates. An increase in PM2.5 of 10 ug/m3 was associated with a 2.5% (95% CI: 1.6-3.4%) increased risk of COPD-related ED and HA, an increase of 10 ug/m3 in NO2 was associated with a 4.2% (2.5-6.0%) increase, and an increase of 10 ug/m3 in SO2 was associated with a 2.1% (0.7-3.5%) increase. The strength of these pooled effect estimates, however, varied depending on the selected lag/averaging time between exposure and outcome. Similar pooled effects were estimated for each pollutant and COPD-related mortality. These results suggest an ongoing threat to the health of COPD patients from both outdoor particulates and gaseous pollutants. Ambient outdoor concentrations of PM2.5, NO2, and SO2 were significantly and positively associated with both COPD-related morbidity and mortality.

Keywords: Air pollution; environmental epidemiology; environmental health; respiratory disease.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Summary of Systematic Literature Review
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Outdoor Air Pollution and COPD Related ED Visits and HAs
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Global Initiative for Chronic Lung Disease (GOLD). Global Strategy for Diagnosis, Management and Prevention of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. 2015.
    1. World Health Organization. The Global Burden of Disease: 2004 Update; World Health Organization: Geneva, Switzerland. 2008.
    1. World Health Organization. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). [Internet]. Available from: http://www.who.int/respiratory/copd/en/ (Accessed on May 5, 2015).
    1. Chapman KR., Mannino DM, Soriano JB, Vermeire PA, Buist AS, Thun MJ, et al. Epidemiology and costs of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Eur Respir J 2006;27:188–207. - PubMed
    1. Burt L, Corbridge S COPD Exacerbations. Evidence-based guidelines for identification, assessment, and management... second in a two-part series. Am J Nursing. 2013; 113(2):34–45. - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources