Department of Public Health, HSE North East, Kells, Co Meath, Ireland.
National Ambient Air Quality Unit (NAAQU), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Clonskeagh Road, Co Dublin, Ireland.
Public Health. 2022 Oct;211:66-71. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2022.07.009. Epub 2022 Jul 18.
Exposure to air pollution is a known risk factor for asthma exacerbations and hospitalisations. This study aimed to identify if COVID-19 transport restrictions led to improvements in air quality in Dublin and if this had an impact on asthma-related hospital admissions.
This was a population-based retrospective cohort study.
Daily concentration levels of particulate matter (PM and PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO) were obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Hospital In-Patient Enquiry (HIPE) system provided the daily number of asthma-related hospital admissions in Dublin. The figures for 2018-2019 were compared with the period of transport restrictions (from March 2020).
During the period of transport restrictions, there was a significant decrease in mean daily concentrations in both PM (8.9 vs 7.8 μg/m, P = 0.002) and NO (24.0 vs 16.7 μg/m, P < 0.001). There was also a significant reduction in the mean number of daily asthma admissions (4.5 vs 2.8 admissions, P < 0.001). Only NO showed a statistically significant correlation with asthma admissions (r = 0.132, P < 0.001).
Transport restrictions introduced to mitigate against COVID-19 led to lower pollutant levels and improved air quality. Previously described associations between pollutants and asthma would indicate that these improvements in air quality contributed to the reduction in asthma-related admissions. The complex nature of PM is the likely explanation for the lack of correlation between its concentration and asthma admissions, unlike NO whose primary source is vehicular emissions. Public Health needs to advocate for transport policies, which can improve air quality and hence improve human health.
空气污染暴露是哮喘恶化和住院的已知危险因素。本研究旨在确定 COVID-19 交通限制是否导致都柏林空气质量改善，以及这是否对与哮喘相关的住院产生影响。
这是一项基于人群的回顾性队列研究。
每日颗粒物（PM 和 PM）和二氧化氮（NO）浓度水平从环境保护局（EPA）获得。医院住院病人查询（HIPE）系统提供了都柏林与哮喘相关的住院人数的每日数据。将 2018-2019 年的数据与交通限制期间（2020 年 3 月起）的数据进行比较。
在交通限制期间，PM（8.9 对 7.8μg/m，P=0.002）和 NO（24.0 对 16.7μg/m，P<0.001）的每日平均浓度均显著下降。每日哮喘入院人数也显著减少（4.5 对 2.8 入院，P<0.001）。只有 NO 与哮喘入院呈统计学显著相关性（r=0.132，P<0.001）。
为减轻 COVID-19 而采取的交通限制措施导致污染物水平降低，空气质量改善。先前描述的污染物与哮喘之间的关联表明，空气质量的改善有助于减少与哮喘相关的住院人数。PM 的复杂性可能是其浓度与哮喘入院之间缺乏相关性的原因，而不像 NO，其主要来源是车辆排放。公共卫生部门需要倡导改善空气质量和改善人类健康的交通政策。
