Individual exposure to ambient PM(2.5) and hospital admissions for COPD in 110 hospitals: a case-crossover study in Guangzhou, China

Few studies have evaluated the short-term association between hospital admissions and individual exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM(2.5)). Particularly, no studies focused on hospital admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at the individual level. We assessed the short-term effects of PM(2.5) on hospitalization admissions for COPD in Guangzhou, China, during 2014–2015, based on satellite-derived estimates of ambient PM(2.5) concentrations at a 1-km resolution near the residential address as individual-level exposure for each patient. Around 40,002 patients with COPD admitted to 110 hospitals were included in this study. A time-stratified case-crossover design with conditional logistic regression models was applied to assess the effects of PM(2.5) based on a 1-km grid data of aerosol optical depth provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on hospital admissions for COPD. Further, we performed stratified analyses by individual demographic characteristics and season of hospital admission. Around 10 μg/m(3) increase in individual-level PM(2.5) was associated with an increase of 1.6% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.6%, 2.7%) in hospitalization for COPD at a lag of 0–5 days. The impact of PM(2.5) on hospitalization for COPD was greater significantly in males and patients admitted in summer. Our study strengthened the evidence for the adverse effect of PM(2.5) based on satellite-based individual-level exposure data. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-021-16539-x.