Publication Date:
2015-07-29
Description:
Background Epidemiological studies investigating the role of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ; aerodynamic diameter 〈2.5 μm) in triggering acute coronary events, including out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and ischemic heart disease (IHD), during wildfires have been inconclusive. Methods and Results We examined the associations of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, IHD, acute myocardial infarction, and angina (hospital admissions and emergency department attendance) with PM 2.5 concentrations during the 2006–2007 wildfires in Victoria, Australia, using a time-stratified case-crossover study design. Health data were obtained from comprehensive health-based administrative registries for the study period (December 2006 to January 2007). Modeled and validated air exposure data from wildfire smoke emissions (daily average PM 2.5 , temperature, relative humidity) were also estimated for this period. There were 457 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, 2106 emergency department visits, and 3274 hospital admissions for IHD. After adjusting for temperature and relative humidity, an increase in interquartile range of 9.04 μg/m 3 in PM 2.5 over 2 days moving average (lag 0-1) was associated with a 6.98% (95% CI 1.03% to 13.29%) increase in risk of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, with strong association shown by men (9.05%,95%CI 1.63% to 17.02%) and by older adults (aged ≥65 years) (7.25%, 95% CI 0.24% to 14.75%). Increase in risk was (2.07%, 95% CI 0.09% to 4.09%) for IHD-related emergency department attendance and (1.86%, 95% CI: 0.35% to 3.4%) for IHD-related hospital admissions at lag 2 days, with strong associations shown by women (3.21%, 95% CI 0.81% to 5.67%) and by older adults (2.41%, 95% CI 0.82% to 5.67%). Conclusion PM 2.5 exposure was associated with increased risk of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and IHD during the 2006–2007 wildfires in Victoria. This evidence indicates that PM 2.5 may act as a triggering factor for acute coronary events during wildfire episodes.
Electronic ISSN:
2047-9980
Topics:
Medicine
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