Association between PM10 pollution and the hospitalization of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with comorbidity: evidence in 17 cities of Henan, Central China

Abstract

Particulate matter (PM₁₀) changes have been confirmed as one of the contributory factors affecting human health, the association between PM₁₀ pollution and the hospitalization of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with comorbidity diseases was rarely reported. The same inpatient more than twice times admissions with COPD illness from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2021 were identified from hospitals in the 17 cities of Henan, Central China. City-specific associations were firstly estimated using the case time series (CTS) model and then combined to obtain the regional average association. The multivariate meta-analytic model produces pooled estimates of the set of coefficients representing the PM₁₀-COPD hospitalizations association across the 17 cities. Cause-specific hospitalization analyses were performed by COPD patients with different comorbidity combinations. A total of 34,348 elderly (age $\ge$ 65) subjects were analyzed and with a total of 35,122.35 person-years. These coefficients can be used to compute the linear exposure-response curve expressed as relative risk (RR) in per 10 µg/m³ increase in PM₁₀ at lag03, which was 1.0091 (95% CI 1.0070-1.0112) for COPD with comorbidity, 1.0089 (95% CI 1.0067-1.0110) for COPD with circulatory system diseases, 1.0079 (95% CI 1.0052-1.0105) for COPD with respiratory system diseases, 1.0076 (95% CI 1.0032-1.0121) for COPD with endocrine system diseases, and 1.0087 (95% CI 1.0013-1.0162) for COPD with genitourinary system diseases, respectively. Some heterogeneity was found across cities, with estimates ranging from 1.0227 in the Puyang and Jiaozuo to 1.0053 in Henan Provance, China. The effect of higher PM₁₀, on average, was higher in studies for northern cities, with a steeper raise in risk: per 10 µg/m³ increase in PM₁₀, the RR from 1.0062 (95% CI 1.0030-1.0093) for the 10th percentile of latitude to 1.0124 (95% CI 1.0089-1.0160) for the 90th percentile. Our findings indicated that PM₁₀ exposure may increase the risk of hospitalizations for COPD with comorbidity. Moreover, there might be a higher morbidity risk associated with PM₁₀ in northern latitudes, indicating that stricter air quality standards could potentially reduce PM₁₀-related morbidity among individuals with COPD. These findings have implications for the implementation of effective clean air interventions aligned with national climate policies.

Keywords: Comorbidity combinations; Multi-city; Particulate matter; Pooled concentration–response; Readmissions; The case time series.