Dominici Francesca, Peng Roger D, Zeger Scott L, White Ronald H, Samet Jonathan M
Department of Biostatistics, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Am J Epidemiol. 2007 Oct 15;166(8):880-8. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwm222. Epub 2007 Aug 28.
Evaluation of the public health impact of air quality regulations, referred to as accountability research, is increasingly viewed as a necessary component of responsible governmental policy interventions. The authors present an example of accountability assessment based on evaluating change in the short-term effect of airborne particles over a period of increasingly stringent regulation that might have changed the chemical composition and toxicity of these particles. They used updated data and methods of the National Morbidity Mortality Air Pollution Study to estimate national average relative rates of the effects of particulate matter <or=10 microm in aerodynamic diameter on all-cause, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality and on other-cause mortality for 1987-2000. They estimated national average relative rates of the effects of particulate matter <or=2.5 microm in aerodynamic diameter on all-cause mortality for 1999-2000. The authors found strong evidence that lag 1 exposures to particulate matter <or=10 microm and <or=2.5 microm in aerodynamic diameter continue to be associated with increased mortality. They also found a weak indication that the lag 1 effects of particulate matter <or=10 microm in aerodynamic diameter on mortality declined during 1987-2000 and that this decline occurred mostly in the eastern United States. The methodology presented can be used to track the health effects of air pollution routinely on regional and national scales.
对空气质量法规的公共卫生影响进行评估（即问责研究），日益被视为负责任的政府政策干预的必要组成部分。作者给出了一个问责评估的例子，该评估基于对在一段监管日益严格的时期内空气中颗粒物短期影响的变化进行评估，这段时期可能改变了这些颗粒物的化学成分和毒性。他们使用了国家发病率死亡率空气污染研究的更新数据和方法，来估计1987 - 2000年期间空气动力学直径小于或等于10微米的颗粒物对全因死亡率、心血管死亡率、呼吸死亡率以及其他原因死亡率影响的全国平均相对率。他们还估计了1999 - 2000年期间空气动力学直径小于或等于2.5微米的颗粒物对全因死亡率影响的全国平均相对率。作者发现有力证据表明，空气动力学直径小于或等于10微米和小于或等于2.5微米的颗粒物的滞后1期暴露仍与死亡率增加相关。他们还发现微弱迹象表明，1987 - 2000年期间空气动力学直径小于或等于10微米的颗粒物对死亡率的滞后1期影响有所下降，且这种下降主要发生在美国东部。所提出的方法可用于常规跟踪区域和国家层面空气污染对健康的影响。
