Liu Tsai-Ching, Tang Hui-Hsuan, Lei Shu-Yi, Peng Yu-I
Department of Public Finance, National Taipei University, 151, University Rd., San Shia, New Taipei City, Taiwan 237.
Department of Economics, National Taipei University, 151, University Rd., San Shia, New Taipei City, Taiwan 237.
J Environ Health Sci Eng. 2022 Jan 21;20(1):305-314. doi: 10.1007/s40201-021-00777-9. eCollection 2022 Jun.
Previous studies found that silicosis was majorly associated with occupation-related risks. However, little evidence was available to clarify the relation between Asian dust storm (ADS) and silicosis hospital admissions. This present paper aims to investigate the association between ADS events and hospital admissions for silicosis.
We applied a Poisson time-series regression on the 2000-2012 National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan, linking air quality data and ambient temperature data to estimate the impact of ADS on silicosis hospital admissions in the age-specific groups.
A total of 2154 hospital admissions were recorded for silicosis in Taiwan, for a daily average number of 0.45. The number rises from 0.43 on a day without ADS to 0.70 on the outbreak day and continues increasing to 0.83 one day after outbreak. Among patients under 45, the effect of ADS appears on the event day as well as several post-event days (lag2-6) at the significant level of p < 0.1. There is also a significant lag effect on post-event day 2 (p < 0.05) for those aged above 74.
Asian dust storms do result in a rise of silicosis hospital admissions, particularly for those above 74, those under 45, and for females.
以往研究发现矽肺主要与职业相关风险有关。然而，几乎没有证据能阐明亚洲沙尘暴（ADS）与矽肺住院之间的关系。本文旨在调查ADS事件与矽肺住院之间的关联。
我们对台湾2000 - 2012年国民健康保险研究数据库应用泊松时间序列回归，将空气质量数据和环境温度数据相联系，以估计ADS对特定年龄组矽肺住院的影响。
台湾共记录了2154例矽肺住院病例，日均病例数为0.45例。该数字从无ADS的日子的0.43例上升至爆发日的0.70例，并在爆发后一天继续增至0.83例。在45岁以下患者中，ADS的影响在事件当天以及事件后的若干天（滞后2 - 6天）出现，显著水平为p < 0.1。对于74岁以上患者，在事件后第2天也存在显著的滞后效应（p < 0.05）。
亚洲沙尘暴确实会导致矽肺住院病例增加，尤其是对于74岁以上、45岁以下人群以及女性。
