Air pollution and hospital admissions for asthma in a subtropical city: Taipei, Taiwan

This study was undertaken to determine whether there is an association between exposure to air pollutants levels and number of hospital admissions for asthma in Taipei, Taiwan. Hospital admissions for asthma and ambient air pollution data for Taipei were obtained for the period from 1996 through 2003. The relative risk of hospital admission for asthma was estimated using a case-crossover approach, controlling for weather variables, day of the week, seasonality, and long-term time trends. In the single-air-pollutant model, on warm days (>= 25 degrees C) statistically significant positive associations were found for SO2, NO2, and CO levels with an increase in asthmatic admissions. On cool days (< 25 degrees C), all air pollutants were significantly associated with elevated asthma admissions except SO2. For the two-air-pollutant model, CO significantly increases hospital admissions for asthma in combination with each of the other four pollutants on warm days. On cool days, NO2 and O-3 significantly elevated asthma rates in all the two-air-pollutant models. This study provides evidence that higher levels of ambient air pollutant concentrations increase the risk of hospital admissions for asthma.