Cent Eur J Public Health 2009, 17(1):8-13 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3508

Short-term Association between Air Pollution and Emergency Room Admissions for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Niš, Serbia

Suzana Milutinović, Dragana Nikić, Ljiljana Stošić, Aleksandra Stanković, Dragan Bogdanović

Public Health Institute Niš, Serbia

The present study assesses the short-term association between black smoke (BS) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) levels in urban air and the daily number of emergency room admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Niš, Serbia.
Generalised linear models extending Poisson regression were fitted controlling for time trend, seasonal variations, days of the week, temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, precipitation, rainfall, snowfall, overcast, and wind velocity.
The emergency room admissions for all ages for COPD were significantly associated with previous-day level of BS and lag 0-2 (1,60% and 2,26% increase per 10 μg/m3, respectively). After controlling for SO2, single lagged (lag 1 and lag 2) as well as mean lagged values of BS (up to lag 0-3) were significantly associated with COPD emergencies.
No effect was found for SO2, even after controlling for black smoke.
The present findings support the conclusion that current levels of ambient BS may have an effect on the respiratory health of susceptible persons.

Keywords: air pollution, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emergency room admissions

Received: July 7, 2008; Revised: October 31, 2008; Accepted: October 31, 2008; Published: March 1, 2009  Show citation