Abstract:
Objective To investigate the influence of six atmospheric pollutants (NO2, SO2, CO, O3-8 h, PM10, and PM2.5) on the daily outpatient volume of pediatric respiratory system diseases in Hohhot, China, from 2018 to 2021.
Methods Related data of Hohhot btween 2018 and 2021 were collected, including the daily outpatient volume of pediatric respiratory system diseases in two tertiary hospitals, concentration of atmospheric pollutants, and meteorological data, and a stratified analysis was performed for the data of the A1 period(COVID-19 pre-onset) and A2 period(COVID-19 infectious stage). The time-series generalized additive model (GAM) based on quasi Poisson distribution was used to establish single-pollutant and two-pollutant models to quantitatively analyze the health effect of atmospheric pollutant concentration on the daily outpatient volume of pediatric respiratory system diseases.
Results There were significant differences in the daily mean concentrations of NO2, SO2, CO, PM10 and PM2.5 between A1 and A2 (P < 0.05). The single-pollutant model under the optimal lag time showed that A1 period, for every 10 μg/m3 increase in the daily mean concentration of NO2, SO2, CO, PM10, and PM2.5, the number of outpatients due to pediatric respiratory system diseases was increased by 1.55%, 4.46%, 0.14%, 0.18%, and 0.35%, respectively. During the A2 period, for every 10 μg/m3 increase in the daily mean concentration of NO2, SO2, CO and PM10, the number of outpatients was increased by 8.25%, 9.40%, 2.84% and 0.32%, respectively. In addition to O3-8 h, the relationship between NO2, SO2, CO, PM10, PM2.5 and the daily outpatient volume of pediatric respiratory diseases was statistically significant by dual-pollution model analysis (P < 0.05).
Conclusion The average daily concentration of major pollutants in the atmosphere in the A1 period was greater than that of A2 period in Hohhot in 2018-2021, and the pollution effect of gaseous pollutants and PM10 on the outpatient volume of pediatric respiratory diseases in the A2 is higher than that of A1 period. The increase in the daily mean concentration of NO2, SO2, CO, PM10, and PM2.5 may lead to the increase in the outpatient volume of pediatric respiratory system diseases with lag effects.