Title
Association of PM2.5 concentration with health center outpatient visits for respiratory diseases of children under 5 years old in Lima, Peru
Date Issued
15 January 2020
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Publisher(s)
BioMed Central
Abstract
Background: Lima is one of the more polluted cities in Latin America. High levels of PM2.5 have been shown to increase health center outpatient visits of respiratory diseases. Methods: Health center outpatient visits for children < 5 years for childhood respiratory disease (acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI), pneumonia and acute bronchiolitis/asthma) from 498 public clinics in Lima were available on a weekly basis from 2011 to 2015 from Peru's Ministry of Health (MINSA). The association between the average weekly concentrations of PM2.5 was evaluated in relation to the number of weekly health center outpatient visits for children. Weekly PM2.5 values were estimated using a recently developed model that combined data observed from ground monitors, with data from space satellite and meteorology. Ground monitoring data came from 10 fixed stations of the Peruvian National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology (SENAMHI) and from 6 mobile stations located in San Juan de Miraflores by Johns Hopkins University. We conducted a time-series analysis using a negative binomial model. Results: We found a significant association between exposure to PM2.5 and all three types of respiratory diseases, across all age groups. For an interquartile increase in PM2.5, we found an increase of 6% for acute lower respiratory infections, an increase of 16-19% for pneumonia, and an increase of 10% for acute bronchiolitis / asthma. Conclusions: Higher emissions of environmental pollutants such as PM2,5 could be a trigger for the increase of health center outpatients visits for respiratory diseases (ALRI, pneumonia and asthma), which are themselves risk factors for mortality for children in Lima province, Peru.
Volume
19
Issue
1
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Sistema respiratorio Salud pública, Salud ambiental
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85078280468
PubMed ID
Source
Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source
ISSN of the container
1476069X
Sponsor(s)
Research reported in this publication was supported by the NIH Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) National Cancer Institute, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the NIH under Award Number U01 TW0101 07. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus