Combined effects of air pollution and extreme heat events among ESKD patients within the Northeastern United States

Background: Increasing number of studies have linked air pollution exposure with renal function decline and disease. However, there is a lack of data on its impact among end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients and its potential modifying effect from extreme heat events (EHE). Methods: Fresenius Kidney Care records from 28 selected northeastern US counties were used to pool daily all-cause mortality (ACM) and all-cause hospital admissions (ACHA) counts. County-level daily ambient P-2.5 and ozone (O-3) were estimated using a high-resolution spatiotemporal coupled climate-air quality model and matched to ESKD patients based on ZIP codes of treatment sites. We used time-stratified case-crossover analyses to characterize acute exposures using individual and cumulative lag exposures for up to 3 days (Lag 0-3) by using a distributed lag nonlinear model framework. We used a nested model comparison hypothesis test to evaluate for interaction effects between air pollutants and EHE and stratification analyses to estimate effect measures modified by EHE days. Results: From 2001 to 2016, the sample population consisted of 43,338 ESKD patients. We recorded 5217 deaths and 78,433 hospital admissions. A 10-unit increase in PM2.5 concentration was associated with a 5% increase in ACM (rate ratio [RRLag0-3]: 1.05, 95% CI: 1.00-1.10) and same-day O-3 (RRLag0: 1.02, 95% CI: 1.01-1.03) after adjusting for extreme heat exposures. Mortality models suggest evidence of interaction and effect measure modification, though not always simultaneously. ACM risk increased up to 8% when daily ozone concentrations exceeded National Ambient Air Quality Standards established by the United States, but the increases in risk were considerably higher during EHE days across lag periods. Conclusion: Our findings suggest interdependent effects of EHE and air pollution among ESKD patients for all-cause mortality risks. National level assessments arc needed to consider the ESKD population as a sensitive population and inform treatment protocols during extreme heat and degraded pollution episodes.

Automated summary

The study found an interdependent relationship between air pollution and extreme heat events among ESKD patients, impacting all-cause mortality risks. Increases in air pollution during extreme heat events were associated with significantly higher mortality risks among ESKD patients.