AUTHOR=Seo Jeong-Won , Youn Jong-Sang , Park SeJoon , Joo Choun-Ki 

TITLE=Development of a Conjunctivitis Outpatient Rate Prediction Model Incorporating Ambient Ozone and Meteorological Factors in South Korea

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2018.01135

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2018.01135

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=<p>Ozone (O<sub>3</sub>) is a commonly known air pollutant that causes adverse health effects. This study developed a multi-level prediction model for conjunctivitis in outpatients due to exposure to O<sub>3</sub> by using 3 years of ambient O<sub>3</sub> data, meteorological data, and hospital data in Seoul, South Korea. We confirmed that the rate of conjunctivitis in outpatients (conjunctivitis outpatient rate) was highly correlated with O<sub>3</sub> (<italic>R</italic><sup>2</sup> = 0.49), temperature (<italic>R</italic><sup>2</sup> = 0.72), and relative humidity (<italic>R</italic><sup>2</sup> = 0.29). A multi-level regression model for the conjunctivitis outpatient rate was well-developed, on the basis of sex and age, by adding statistical factors. This model will contribute to the prediction of conjunctivitis outpatient rate for each sex and age, using O<sub>3</sub> and meteorological data.</p>