Short-term effects of fine particulate matter on acute myocardial infraction mortality and years of life lost: A time series study in Hong Kong

Abstract

Previous studies have applied years of life lost (YLL) as a complementary indicator to assess the short-term effect of the air pollution on the health burden from all-cause mortality, but sparsely focused on individual diseases such as acute myocardial infraction (AMI). In this study, we aimed to conduct a time-series analysis to evaluate short-term effects of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) on mortality and YLL from AMI in Hong Kong from 2011 to 2015, and explore the potential effect modifiers including sex and age by subgroup analysis. We applied generalized additive Poisson and Gaussian regression model for daily death count and YLL, respectively. We found that 10 μg/m3 increment in concentration of PM2.5 lasting for two days (lag01) was associated with a 2.35% (95% CI 0.38% to 4.36%) increase in daily mortality count and a 1.69 (95% CI 0.01 to 3.37) years increase in YLL from AMI. The association between PM2.5 and AMI mortality count was stronger among women and older people than men and young people, respectively. We concluded that acute exposure to PM2.5 may increase the risk of mortality and YLL from AMI in Hong Kong and this effect can be modified by age and gender. These findings add to the evidence base for public health policy formulation and resource allocation.