Daily air pollution levels and acute asthma in southern Sweden

• This study aimed to investigate the association between daily air pollution levels and the occurrence of acute respiratory signs and symptoms among people with asthma or asthma-like problems.Thirty eight subjects in the southern Swedish city of Landskrona kept a daily diary for 10 weeks. The daily prevalence of symptoms, supplementary bronchodilator use and peak flow deviations were compared with measurements of environmental nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide, temperature and humidity in the city.The occurrence of severe asthma, both during the day and during the evening, was significantly positively associated with the concurrent 24 h average concentration of NO2, which never exceeded 72 microg x m(-3). A correlation of borderline significance was found between the use of on-demand medication and the NO2 level. However, peak flow deviations were not associated with air pollution or weather conditions, which may be explained by the beneficial effect of bronchodilators used by 28 of the subjects.The results of this study confirm those of some earlier studies and suggest that aggravation of asthma is related to daily variations in air quality, as indicated by relatively low ambient concentrations of nitrogen dioxide. These results also indicate that it may be appropriate to examine severe asthma symptoms separately.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Occupational Health and Environmental Health (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

air pollution

asthma

nitrogen dioxide

peak flow

respiratory

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)