Cardiac Problems and Concentration of Ambient Nitrogen Dioxide

Abstract

Background: Environmental epidemiology studies report an association of cardiac health conditions with concentration of ambient air pollutants. As high level of air pollution increases the health risk.
Aim: To estimate the association in the form of the parametric concentration-response shapes.
Methods: A case-crossover technique is applied to realize the statistical models. The concentration of air pollution is transformed and submitted into the model. The parameters of the concentration-response function are estimated to satisfy the goodness of fit criterion. Emergency department (ED) visits for cardiac health problems are used as health outcomes. Nitrogen dioxide is used as ambient air pollution exposure.
Results: Positive statistically significant associations were obtained between the numbers of ED visits and the concentration of nitrogen dioxide lagged by 0, 1, 2, and 3 days. Odds ratios are growing with increased concentration levels and are between 1.03 and 1.10.
Conclusion: A concentration-response function allows summarizing the associations between cardiac problems and ambient nitrogen dioxide.