Wu Xiaojun, Zhang Kai, Yu Daihua, Li Jingjing
Department of General Surgery, Xi'an No.3 Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Northwest University, Xi'an, China.
Department of Intensive Care Unit, Xi'an No.3 Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Northwest University, Xi'an, China.
Front Public Health. 2025 May 7;13:1549830. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1549830. eCollection 2025.
Air pollution caused by ambient fine particulate matter (≤ 2.5 μm) adversely affects human health. Previous studies have shown that PM2.5 exposure increases the risk of lung diseases. However, the relationship between long-term PM2.5 exposure and new-onset lung diseases among middle-aged and older adults in China is still unclear.
We conducted a retrospective cohort study through the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) and Science Data Bank (ScienceDB). The logistic regression model and restricted cubic spline (RCS) were used to explore the relationship between long-term PM2.5 exposure and new-onset lung diseases. To further increase the robustness of the results, we performed sensitivity and subgroup analyses.
A total of 10,707 patients were included in this study. The 10,707 patients were divided into two groups: without new-onset lung diseases ( = 9,019) and with new-onset lung diseases ( = 1,688). The results of multivariate analysis showed that per 1 ug/m increase in annual PM2.5 concentration, the risk of new lung diseases increased by 0.3%. The results of the RCS showed that PM2.5 exposure increased the risk of new-onset lung diseases more significantly when the annual PM2.5 concentration was greater than 48.5 ug/m. Sensitivity analysis and subgroup analysis also confirmed the reliability of the results.
PM2.5 exposure increases the risk of new-onset lung diseases among middle-aged and old adults in China, especially when the concentration of PM2.5 > 48.5 ug/m. Our study established an empirical foundation for refining PM2.5 emission regulations, developing age-stratified screening protocols for incident pulmonary diseases, and advancing mechanistic investigations into PM2.5-induced lung pathology.
环境细颗粒物（≤2.5微米）造成的空气污染对人类健康有不利影响。以往研究表明，接触细颗粒物2.5会增加患肺病的风险。然而，中国中老年人群中长期接触细颗粒物2.5与新发肺病之间的关系仍不明确。
我们通过中国健康与养老追踪调查（CHARLS）和科学数据库（ScienceDB）开展了一项回顾性队列研究。采用逻辑回归模型和受限立方样条（RCS）来探究长期接触细颗粒物2.5与新发肺病之间的关系。为进一步提高结果的稳健性，我们进行了敏感性分析和亚组分析。
本研究共纳入10707例患者。这10707例患者被分为两组：无新发肺病组（n = 9019）和有新发肺病组（n = 1688）。多因素分析结果显示，年细颗粒物2.5浓度每增加1微克/立方米，新发肺病的风险增加0.3%。受限立方样条分析结果显示，当年细颗粒物2.5浓度大于48.5微克/立方米时，接触细颗粒物2.5会更显著地增加新发肺病的风险。敏感性分析和亚组分析也证实了结果的可靠性。
在中国中老年人群中，接触细颗粒物2.5会增加新发肺病的风险，尤其是当细颗粒物2.5浓度>48.5微克/立方米时。我们的研究为完善细颗粒物2.5排放法规、制定针对突发性肺部疾病的年龄分层筛查方案以及推进对细颗粒物2.5诱发肺部病理的机制研究奠定了实证基础。
