Air Pollution and Daily Clinic Visits for Headache in a Subtropical City: Taipei, Taiwan

This study was undertaken to determine whether there was an association between air pollutant levels and daily clinic visits for headache in Taipei, Taiwan. Daily clinic visits for headache and ambient air pollution data for Taipei were obtained for the period from 2006–2011. The odds ratio of clinic visits for headache was estimated using a case-crossover approach, controlling for weather variables, day of the week, seasonality, and long-term time trends. In the single pollutant models, on warm days (≥23 °C) statistically significant positive associations were found for increased rate of headache occurrence and levels of particulate matter (PM(10)), sulfur dioxide (SO(2)), nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone (O(3)). On cool days (<23 °C), all pollutants were significantly associated with increased headache visits except SO(2). For the two-pollutant models, PM(10), O(3) and NO(2) were significant for higher rate of headache visits in combination with each of the other four pollutants on cool days. On warm days, CO remained statistically significant in all two-pollutant models. This study provides evidence that higher levels of ambient air pollutants increase the risk of clinic visits for headache.