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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Environmental Health and Exposome
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1325956

Long-term effects of air pollution on daily outpatient visits for allergic conjunctivitis from 2013 to 2020: a time-series study in Urumqi, China

Provisionally accepted
Dongwei Liu Dongwei Liu 1Siyu Gui Siyu Gui 1Xinchen Wang Xinchen Wang 1Qianqian Wang Qianqian Wang 1*Jianchao Qiao Jianchao Qiao 2Fangbiao Tao Fangbiao Tao 3Liming Tao Liming Tao 1*Zhengxuan Jiang Zhengxuan Jiang 4Xianglong Yi Xianglong Yi 5*
  • 1 Department of Ophthalmology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province, China
  • 2 Department of Clinical Medicine, The Second School of Clinical Medicine, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province, China
  • 3 Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province, China
  • 4 Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
  • 5 First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Region, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: This study aimed to elucidate the effects of outdoor air pollution and allergic conjunctivitis and population-based lagged effects of air pollution. Methods: We included data on six major air pollutants, PM10, PM2.5, carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3), and 3325 allergic conjunctivitis outpatient visits in Urumqi, northwest China, from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2020. We developed quasi-Poisson generalized linear regression models with distributed lagged nonlinear models (DLNM), and single and multi-pollutant models were constructed to investigate single-day and cumulative lagged effects in detail. Results: Our results confirmed that elevated PM10 and NO2 levels are significantly associated with increased allergic conjunctivitis outpatient visits with lags of 2 and 3 days respectively, and subgroup analyses further suggest that the effects of PM10 and NO2 on allergic conjunctivitis are more pronounced during the warm season. Women are more sensitive to PM10 exposure and the effect of air pollution on allergic conjunctivitis is influenced by age (e.g., infancy and older people). Discussion: Our work provides the first time-series study in Urumqi, the world's furthest inland city from the ocean. Further implementation of specific outdoor air pollution controls such as the burning of fossil fuels like coal, as well as special population protection policies remain necessary. Multicenter studies with larger sample sizes are needed.

    Keywords: allergic conjunctivitis, Air Pollution, time-series analysis, Outpatient visits, Population

    Received: 22 Oct 2023; Accepted: 19 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Liu, Gui, Wang, Wang, Qiao, Tao, Tao, Jiang and Yi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Qianqian Wang, Department of Ophthalmology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province, China
    Liming Tao, Department of Ophthalmology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province, China
    Xianglong Yi, First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Region, China

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