Study on the Interrelationship of Air Pollution and Respiratory Diseases in Inchon City Via Children Who Visited the Emergency Room of Inha University Hospital

Choi, Hyun; Lim, Dae Hyun; Kim, Jung Hee; Son, Byong Kwan; Lim, Jong Whan; Hong, Youn Chol

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Pediatric Society 2000;43(10):1372-1379.
Published online October 15, 2000.

Study on the Interrelationship of Air Pollution and Respiratory Diseases in Inchon City Via Children Who Visited the Emergency Room of Inha University Hospital

Hyun Choi¹, Dae Hyun Lim¹, Jung Hee Kim¹, Byong Kwan Son¹, Jong Whan Lim², Youn Chol Hong²

¹Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Inha University, Inchon, Korea
²Department of Industrial Medicine, College of Medicine, Inha University, Inchon, Korea

인천지역의 대기 오염과 호흡기 질환으로 인하대병원 응급실을 방문한 소아의 내원 건수와의 상호 관계에 대한 연구

최 현^¹^, 임대현^¹^, 김정희^¹^, 손병관^¹^, 임종한^²^, 홍윤철^²

^¹인하대학교 의과대학 소아과학교실
^²인하대학교 의과대학 산업의학과교실

Abstract

Purpose
: It is generally accepted that air pollution can cause acute respiratory diseases. This study assessed the relationship between air pollution and development of pediatric respiratory diseases in Inchon city.
Methods
: We studied a number of pediatric patients who developed respiratory diseases such as bronchial asthma, bronchiolitis, URI, bronchitis and pneumonia and visited the Inha University Hospital emergency room from January to December 31 1997. We converted the data into an average per day that included meteorologic data of air pollution(such as CO, NO2, O3, SO2, and PM10) and weather data(such as atmospheric temperature, relative humidity) in three different places in Inchon city. We used a Poisson distribution, selecting a lowess statistics model. We also used the S-Plus statistics program.
Results
: After several variables were controlled, we determined the relative risks between the incidence of pediatric respiratory diseases and air pollutants as CO=0.92, NO2=1.12, O3=1.21, SO2= 1.04, and PM10=1.00. The 95% confidence intervals were CO=0.88-0.19, NO2=1.05-1.14, O3=1.09- 1.28, SO2=1.07-1.31, and PM10=1.01-1.05.
Conclusion
: There was a significant association between the incidence of pediatric respiratory diseases and the level of air pollutants, especially NO2, O3, SO2, and PM10 in Inchon city. More studies on air pollution and its effect on pediatric respiratory diseases are needed.

Key Words: Air pollution, Pediatric respiratory diseases