Association of change in air quality with hospital admission for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Guangdong, China: A province-wide ecological study

Aims To assess possible effect of air quality improvements, we investigated the temporal change in hospital admissions for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) associated with pollutant concentrations. Methods We collected daily concentrations of particulate matter (i.e., PM2.5, PM10 and PMcoarse), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), and admissions for AECOPD for 21 cities in Guangdong from 2013 to 2017. We examined the association of air pollution with AECOPD admissions using two-stage time-series analysis, and estimated the annual attributable fractions, numbers, and direct hospitalization costs of AECOPD admissions with principal component analysis. Results From 2013–2017, mean daily concentrations of SO2, PM10 and PM2.5 declined by nearly 40%, 30%, and 26% respectively. As the average daily 8 h O3 concentration increased considerably, the number of days exceeding WHO target (i.e.,100 μg/m³) increased from 103 in 2015–152 in 2017. For each interquartile range increase in pollutant concentration, the relative risks of AECOPD admission at lag 0–3 were 1.093 (95% CI 1.06–1.13) for PM2.5, 1.092 (95% CI 1.08–1.11) for O3, and 1.092 (95% CI 1.05–1.14) for SO2. Attributable fractions of AECOPD admission advanced by air pollution declined from 9.5% in 2013 to 4.9% in 2016, then increased to 6.0% in 2017. A similar declining trend was observed for direct AECOPD hospitalization costs. Conclusion Declined attributable hospital admissions for AECOPD may be associated with the reduction in concentrations of PM2.5, PM10 and SO2 in Guangdong, while O3 has emerged as an important risk factor. Summarizes the main finding of the work： Reduction in PM may result in declined attributable hospitalizations for AECOPD, while O3 has emerged as an important risk factor following an intervention.