The Impact of Air Pollution on Frequent Exacerbations among COPD Patients: An Observational Study on the Population of Western Romania

Patients with respiratory pathologies are the risk group most affected by air pollution, being directly exposed, especially those diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In this observational study, which included 79 patients, we evaluated whether COPD patients with the frequent exacerbating phenotype or the infrequent exacerbating phenotype live in residences with higher values of air pollution. An air quality monitoring station was installed in each patient’s house for at least 24 h and PM 1.0, PM 2.5, and PM 10 were measured. Average PM 1.0, PM 2.5, and PM 10 values were lower in the group of infrequently exacerbating patients compared to the frequently exacerbating ones. For every 1 µg/m(3) increase in the average values of PM 1.0, PM 2.5, and PM 10, there is an increase of 1.7%, 1.8% and 1%, respectively, in the risk of developing exacerbations. More importantly, an average value of PM 1.0, PM 2.5, and PM 10 above 32.21 µg/m(3), 82.32 µg/m(3) and 42.89 µg/m(3) increases the probability of developing an exacerbation by 3.83, 10.14, and 4.12 times, respectively. Our analysis showed that COPD patients with a frequently exacerbating phenotype live in residences with high levels of air pollution compared to infrequently exacerbating ones.