Estimation of the Effects of Air Pollution on Hospitalization Expenditures for Asthma

Abstract

This article aims to estimate the effects of air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and NO2) on the hospitalization expenses of adult patients admitted due to asthma. The data is sourced from the medical health database of a city in Southwest China, which involves approximately 14 million residents. A generalized additive model using a Poisson distribution was utilized to identify the effects of air pollution on the cost of hospitalization due to asthma. Hospital admissions were stratified by sex, age, season, and type of medical insurance to specialize the results. Air pollution significantly affects hospitalization expenses for asthma. These effects were more significant in the male, non-senior subgroups than in the female, senior subgroups. The difference also significantly existed in different insurance type subgroups. Air pollution has adverse effects on hospitalization expenses for asthma. Climate change is now deeply affecting the world in the aspects of economy and health. Based on our research, policymakers can establish more effective air pollution reduction policies and measures that can control the levels of ambient air pollutants, which help save health care resources and improve the welfare of the population by easing the climate change.