Yang Chun-Yuh, Tsai Shang-Shyue, Chang Chih-Ching, Ho Shu-Chen
Institute of Public Health, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Inhal Toxicol. 2005 Dec 15;17(14):817-21. doi: 10.1080/08958370500241254.
In spring, windblown dust storms originating in the deserts of Mongolia and China make their way to Taipei city. These occurrences are known as Asian dust storm (ADS) events. The objective of this study was to assess the possible associations of ADS on the hospital asthma admissions of residents in Taipei, Taiwan, during the period 1996-2001. We identified 54 dust storm episodes, which were classified as index days. Daily asthma admissions on the index days were compared with admissions on the comparison days. We selected two comparison days for each index day, 7 days before the index days and 7 days after the index days. The effects of dust storms on asthma admissions were prominent 2 days after the event (8%). However, the association was not statistically significant. There may not have been enough power to detect associations resulting from the inadequate sample size of asthma admissions on ADS events days. However, it seems worthwhile to pay more attention to the ADS events and health in the future.
春季，源自蒙古和中国沙漠地区的沙尘暴会吹到台北市。这些事件被称为亚洲沙尘暴（ADS）事件。本研究的目的是评估1996年至2001年期间ADS与台湾台北市居民因哮喘住院情况之间的可能关联。我们确定了54次沙尘暴事件，并将其归类为指标日。将指标日的每日哮喘住院人数与对照日的住院人数进行比较。我们为每个指标日选择了两个对照日，指标日前7天和指标日后7天。沙尘暴对哮喘住院人数的影响在事件发生后2天最为显著（8%）。然而，这种关联在统计学上并不显著。可能由于ADS事件日哮喘住院人数样本量不足，没有足够的检验效能来检测出关联。不过，未来似乎值得更加关注ADS事件与健康问题。
