Chemical properties of air pollutants and cause-specific hospital admissions among the elderly in Atlanta, Georgia.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Health risks differ by fine particle (aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm) component, although with substantial variability. Traditional methods to assess component-specific risks are limited, suggesting the need for alternative methods.

Objectives

We examined whether the odds of daily hospital admissions differ by pollutant chemical properties.

Methods

We categorized pollutants by chemical properties and examined their impacts on the odds of daily hospital admissions among Medicare recipients > 64 years of age in counties in Atlanta, Georgia, for 1998-2006. We analyzed data in two stages. In the first stage we applied a case-crossover analysis to simultaneously estimate effects of 65 pollutants measured in the Aerosol Research and Inhalation Epidemiology Study o

SUBMITTER: Suh HH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3230427 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature