Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong; Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.
Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong; Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.
Environ Pollut. 2018 Apr;235:155-162. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2017.12.047. Epub 2017 Dec 27.
Air pollution has been shown to be significantly associated with morbidity and mortality in urban areas, but there is lack of studies focused on extreme pollution events such as extreme dust episodes in high-density Asian cities. However, such cities have had extreme climate episodes that could have adverse health implications for downwind areas. More importantly, few studies have comprehensively investigated the mortality risks of extreme dust events for socioeconomically vulnerable populations. This paper examined the association between air pollutants and mortality risk in Hong Kong from 2006 to 2010, with a case-crossover analysis, to determine the elevated risk after an extreme dust event in a high-density city. The results indicate that PM dominated the all-cause mortality effect at the lag 0 day (OR: 1.074 [1.051, 1.098]). This study also found that people who were aged ≥ 65, economically inactive, or non-married had higher risks of all-cause mortality and cardiorespiratory mortality during days with extreme dust events. In addition, people who were in areas with higher air pollution had significantly higher risks of all-cause mortality and cardiorespiratory mortality. In conclusion, the results of this study can be used to target the vulnerable among a population or an area and the day(s) at risk to assist in health protocol development and emergency planning, as well as to develop early warnings for the general public in order to mitigate potential mortality risk for vulnerable population groups caused by extreme dust events.
空气污染与城市地区的发病率和死亡率显著相关，但缺乏针对极端污染事件（如高密度亚洲城市的极端沙尘事件）的研究。然而，这些城市经历了极端气候事件，可能对下风地区的健康产生不利影响。更重要的是，很少有研究全面调查极端沙尘事件对社会经济弱势群体的死亡风险。本文通过病例交叉分析，研究了 2006 年至 2010 年香港的空气污染物与死亡率风险之间的关系，以确定高密度城市发生极端沙尘事件后的风险升高情况。结果表明，在滞后 0 天，PM 主导了全因死亡率效应（OR：1.074 [1.051, 1.098]）。本研究还发现，年龄≥65 岁、非经济活动者或未婚者在极端沙尘事件期间发生全因死亡率和心肺死亡率的风险更高。此外，处于空气污染程度较高地区的人群发生全因死亡率和心肺死亡率的风险显著更高。总之，本研究的结果可用于确定人口或地区中的弱势群体以及存在风险的日期，以协助制定卫生协议和应急计划，并为公众发布早期预警，从而减轻极端沙尘事件对弱势群体造成的潜在死亡风险。
