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Associations between ambient air pollution and daily emergency department attendances for cardiovascular disease in the elderly (65+ years), Sydney, Australia

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 16, pages 225–237 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

There are no reported studies on the effects of ambient air pollution on emergency department (ED) attendances in Sydney, Australia. This study aimed to determine associations between ambient air pollutants and ED attendances for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in those aged 65+ years. We constructed daily time series of hospital ED attendances, air pollutants and meteorological factors for the Sydney metropolitan area from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2001. We used generalised linear models to determine associations between daily air pollution and daily ED attendances and controlled for the effects of long-term trends, seasonality, weather and other potential confounders. Increased ED attendances for all CVD, cardiac disease and ischaemic heart disease were seen with 24-h particulate pollution, 1-h NO2, 8-h CO and 24-h SO2. Air pollutants were associated with decreased ED attendances for stroke. The effects of air pollutants on CVD, cardiac disease and stroke attendances were generally greater in the cool period compared to the warm period. The single-pollutant effects of CO, O3, NO2 and SO2 were essentially unchanged in two-pollutant models. Although air pollution levels in Sydney are relatively low compared to similar cities, we have demonstrated associations between ambient air pollutants and ED attendances for CVD in people aged 65+ years. Our study adds to the growing evidence for the effects of ambient air pollution on CVD outcomes even at relatively low ambient concentrations.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for the meteorological data, and the NSW Environment Protection Authority for the air pollution data. We received funding from the Health Research Foundation Sydney South West, South Western Sydney Area Health Service and from the Environmental Health Branch, NSW Health Department. We also acknowledge the assistance of the collaborators on the SPIRT project (grant 2049570): Trudi O'Farrell and Anna Petroeschevksy from the Faculty of Science, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia and Gail Williams from the School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Australia. There is no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Research, Evidence Management and Surveillance, South Western Sydney Area Health Service, Liverpool Hospital, New South Wales

    Bin Jalaludin

  2. Australia,

    Bin Jalaludin

  3. School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    Bin Jalaludin

  4. Northern Rivers University Department of Rural Health, University of Sydney, Lismore, Australia

    Geoffrey Morgan

  5. New South Wales Health Department, Centre for Epidemiology and Research, Sydney, Australia

    Doug Lincoln

  6. New South Wales Health Department, Environmental Health Branch, Sydney, Australia

    Vicky Sheppeard

  7. Faculty of Science, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, Australia

    Rod Simpson

  8. Centre for Public Health, Western Sydney Area Health Service, Sydney, Australia

    Stephen Corbett

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  1. Bin Jalaludin
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Correspondence to Bin Jalaludin.

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Jalaludin, B., Morgan, G., Lincoln, D. et al. Associations between ambient air pollution and daily emergency department attendances for cardiovascular disease in the elderly (65+ years), Sydney, Australia. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 16, 225–237 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500451

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