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. 2020 May 27;17(11):3812.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17113812.

Association between Ambient Air Pollution and Hospital Length of Stay among Children with Asthma in South Texas

Juha Baek  1   2 , Bita A Kash  2   3   4 , Xiaohui Xu  5 , Mark Benden  1 , Jon Roberts  6 , Genny Carrillo  1
Affiliations

Association between Ambient Air Pollution and Hospital Length of Stay among Children with Asthma in South Texas

Juha Baek et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Although hospital length of stay (LOS) has been identified as a proxy measure of healthcare expenditures in the United States, there are limited studies investigating the potentially important association between outdoor air pollution and LOS for pediatric asthma. This study aims to examine the effect of ambient air pollution on LOS among children with asthma in South Texas. It included retrospective data on 711 children aged 5-18 years old admitted for asthma to a pediatric tertiary care hospital in South Texas between 2010 and 2014. Air pollution data including particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone were collected from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The multivariate binomial logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the association between each air pollutant and LOS, controlling for confounders. The regression models showed the increased ozone level was significantly associated with prolonged LOS in the single- and two-pollutant models (p < 0.05). Furthermore, in the age-stratified models, PM2.5 was positively associated with LOS among children aged 5-11 years old (p < 0.05). In conclusion, this study revealed a concerning association between ambient air pollution and LOS for pediatric asthma in South Texas.

Keywords: PM2.5; South Texas; ambient air pollution; hospital length of stay; ozone; pediatric asthma.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Lag structures of the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of PM2.5 and ozone with hospital length of stay in single-pollutant and two-pollutant models. Note: OR—odds ratio; 95% CI—95% confidence interval; * p < 0.05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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