Resource Economics and Center for Public Policy and Administration 205 Stockbridge Hall, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
Eur Respir J. 2012 Aug;40(2):363-70. doi: 10.1183/09031936.00157811. Epub 2012 Jan 20.
Recent research suggests the burden of childhood asthma that is attributable to air pollution has been underestimated in traditional risk assessments, and there are no estimates of these associated costs. We aimed to estimate the yearly childhood asthma-related costs attributable to air pollution for Riverside and Long Beach, CA, USA, including: 1) the indirect and direct costs of healthcare utilisation due to asthma exacerbations linked with traffic-related pollution (TRP); and 2) the costs of health care for asthma cases attributable to local TRP exposure. We calculated costs using estimates from peer-reviewed literature and the authors' analysis of surveys (Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, California Health Interview Survey, National Household Travel Survey, and Health Care Utilization Project). A lower-bound estimate of the asthma burden attributable to air pollution was US$18 million yearly. Asthma cases attributable to TRP exposure accounted for almost half of this cost. The cost of bronchitic episodes was a major proportion of both the annual cost of asthma cases attributable to TRP and of pollution-linked exacerbations. Traditional risk assessment methods underestimate both the burden of disease and cost of asthma associated with air pollution, and these costs are borne disproportionately by communities with higher than average TRP.
最近的研究表明，在传统的风险评估中，空气污染导致的儿童哮喘负担被低估了，而且这些相关成本也没有估算。本研究旨在估计美国加利福尼亚州河滨市和长滩市因空气污染导致的儿童哮喘相关年度成本，包括：1）与交通相关污染（TRP）有关的哮喘恶化导致的医疗利用的间接和直接成本；2）归因于当地 TRP 暴露的哮喘病例的医疗保健成本。我们使用同行评议文献中的估计值和作者对调查（医疗支出面板调查、加利福尼亚健康访谈调查、国家家庭旅行调查和医疗保健利用项目）的分析来计算成本。空气污染导致的哮喘负担的下限估计值为每年 1800 万美元。归因于 TRP 暴露的哮喘病例几乎占了这一成本的一半。支气管炎发作的成本是归因于 TRP 的哮喘病例的年度成本和与污染相关的恶化的主要部分。传统的风险评估方法低估了与空气污染相关的疾病负担和哮喘成本，而这些成本不成比例地由 TRP 高于平均水平的社区承担。
