Increased Risk of Hospital Admission for Asthma from Short-Term Exposure to Low Air Pressure

PURPOSE: Asthma has a major impact on patients’ quality of life, mortality, and healthcare burden. Some evidence suggests that environmental factors may trigger asthma. However, there has been limited research on the relationship between air pressure and asthma hospital admissions, especially in China. Thus, we aimed to study the influence of air pressure and identify potentially susceptible populations. METHODS: The study data were gathered from hospitalization records with a primary diagnosis of asthma from all secondary and tertiary hospitals in Beijing from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2016. The study examined the association between the risk of asthma and air pressure using a distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM). We also performed a stratified analysis to identify the susceptible populations. RESULTS: A total of 23,697 asthma hospital admissions were included in the study. We found that the relative risk (RR) and the 7-day cumulative relative risk (CRR) of asthma had an approximate negative correlation with air pressure. At the same time, we found that the association was most apparent on the day of exposure (lag = 0). CONCLUSION: Ambient air pressure had an approximately negative correlation with daily asthma hospital admissions in Beijing, China. That means the risk of hospital admission for asthma would be increased by low air pressure. Furthermore, air pressure has a significant effect on asthma only on the day of exposure. It is possibly significant to protect the vulnerable on days with low air pressure, especially those younger than 65 years.