Acute effects of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) on hospital admissions for cardiovascular diseases in Lanzhou, China: a time-series study

Abstract

Abstract Background Up until now, evidence pertaining to the short-term effects of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is scarce in China. In this study, we aim to estimate the association between short-term exposure to PM2.5 and hospitalizations for total and cause-specific CVD in Lanzhou of China. Methods Daily counts of cardiovascular admissions were obtained from three large general hospitals in Lanzhou, China between 2014 and 2019. Air quality and meteorological data were obtained from the monitoring stations nearest to the admitting hospitals. We utilized Quasi-Poisson time-series regressions with distributed lag nonlinear models (DLNM) to assess the association between PM2.5 and CVD admitted in the three general hospitals. A stratified analysis was also conducted for age, sex, and disease subcategories. Results PM2.5 was positively correlated with daily admissions for total or other cause-specific CVD under different lag patterns. For every 10 μg/m3 increase in the PM2.5 concentration, the relative risk of daily admissions for total CVD, ischemic heart disease (IHD), heart rhythm disturbances (HRD), heart failure (HF), and cerebrovascular disease (CD) was: 1.011 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.001–1.020] in lag01; 1.020 (95% CI 1.004–1.036) in lag07; 1.013 (95% CI 1.001–1.026) in lag7; 1.018 (95% CI 1.005–1.038) in lag1; and 1.007 (95% CI 1.001–1.018) in lag1. Both low and high temperatures increased the risk of cardiovascular hospitalization. No differences were found after stratification by gender and age. We found an almost linear relationship between the exposure to PM2.5 and cause-specific CVD admissions with no threshold effect. Males as well as the elderly, aged ≥ 65 years, were more vulnerable to PM 2.5 exposure. Conclusions Our results have demonstrated that PM2.5 has adverse impacts on cardiovascular hospitalizations in Lanzhou, especially on IHD.