Short-term ambient air pollution risk for ischemic stroke hospitalization and related economic burden: A multi-city time-series study in southwest China.

Short-term exposure to air pollution is associated with hospitalization for ischemic stroke (IS); however, evidence of the impact of the exposure on IS in highly polluted developing regions is limited. This study aimed to assess the relationships between air pollutants and IS hospitalization, as well as economic burden attributable to the hospitalization in Sichuan, China. Records from 160,555 IS hospitalizations were collected from medical institutions in nine cities in Sichuan from 2017 to 2019, along with simultaneous meteorological and air pollution data. Generalized additive model (GAM) was used to analyze the relationship between air pollutants and IS hospitalizations. The economic burden due to air pollutants exposure were further assessed using a cost-of-illness (COI) method. All p values were corrected for multiple comparisons. The single pollutant model showed that the effects of each interquartile range (IQR) increase in PM 2.5 , PM 10 , O 3 , and CO, on IS hospitalization peaked on lag 07, with relative risk values of 1.057(95% CI: 1.030–1.085), 1.060(95% CI:1.032–1.090), 1.110(95% CI:1.043–1.181), and 1.096 (95% CI:1.060–1.132), respectively. Stratified analysis shows that older people are more susceptible to the impact of air pollutants, and compared to the warm season, IS hospitalization in the cold season is more susceptible to exposure to O 3 and CO. It has been determined that during the study period, the number of IS hospitalizations attributable to PM 2.5 pollution was 5,157 and to PM 10 pollution was 3,650, with an economic cost of CNY 67, 966, 100 and 48, 107, 900, respectively. In this study, we found that short-term exposure to PM 2.5 , PM 10 , O 3 , and CO can lead to increased hospitalizations for stroke and a quantifiably greater economic burden. • Short-term exposure to PM 2.5 , PM 10 , O 3 , and CO can lead to increased hospitalizations for stroke. • Older people are more susceptible to air pollutants. • The IS hospitalization was more susceptible to O 3 and CO exposure during the cold season. • The burden of hospitalization for ischaemic stroke due to exposure to air pollutants is enormous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]