The odds of developing asthma and wheeze among children and adolescents exposed to particulate matter: asystematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND

Exposure to air pollution specifically particulate matter causes significant health risk to children which increases their susceptibility to respiratory diseases.

OBJECTIVES

This review aimed to pool the association between particulate matter exposure and childhood asthma and wheeze among children and adolescents.

METHODS

This review included observational study articles retrieved from electronic data bases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, Hinari, Science Direct, and Semantic Scholar from 1996 to June 17, 2024. Data were extracted and analyzed using Microsoft Excel 16 and STATA version 17, respectively. Joanna Briggs Institute evaluation criteria and I test statistics were used for quality and heterogeneity assessment, respectively.

RESULTS

Fourty seven studies with a total of 417,874 of children and adolescents met the inclusion criteria. The pooled odd ratio (OR) of the association between Particulate Matter with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less (PM10) and Particulate Matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less (PM2.5) with asthma were 1.04 (95% CI: 1.03-1.06, p < 0.001) with significant extreme heterogeneity (I² = 82.7%, p < 0.001) and 1.05 (95% CI 1.04-1.07, p < 0.001) with high heterogeneity (I² = 80.6%, p < 0.001) among the included studies, respectively. The overall pooled estimate indicates a statistically significant association between PM10 and wheeze, with OR of 1.06 (95% CI: 1.05, 1.07) and moderate heterogeneity among included studies (I²=57.5%, p < 0.007) where as more association was observed between PM2.5 and wheeze with OR of 1.15. (95% CI: 1.10, 1.20) with an (I² =72.8%, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The findings of this systematic review and meta-analysis demonstrated a statistically significant association between exposure to both PM10 and PM2.5 and the occurrence of asthma and wheezing in children and adolescents. Both PM10 and PM2.5 are associated with increased odds of asthma and wheezing, with PM2.5 showing a stronger relationship. The significant levels of heterogeneity observed suggest variations across studies, which may be due to differences in study designs, exposure level and outcome measurement types. These findings indicate the need for strategies to reduce particle air pollution to mitigate its adverse effects on children's respiratory health.