Cooking or heating with solid fuels increased the all-cause mortality risk among mid-aged and elderly People in China

BACKGROUND: Our study aimed to explore the associations between solid fuels burning for either heating or cooking and all-cause mortality based on 2859 participants from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study during 2011–2018. METHODS: Logistic regression models were performed to estimate the risk for all-cause mortality between different types of fuels in the current longitudinal study. Furthermore, the combined impacts of applying solid fuels for both cooking and heating and the effect among those who switched types of fuels in cooking or heating during follow-up were also analyzed. Interaction and stratification analysis by covariables was applied further to explore the relationship between fuel burning and all-cause mortality. RESULTS: After full-adjustment, usage of solid fuels was associated with higher all-cause mortality (for heating: OR = 1.93, 95% CI = 1.25, 3.00; for cooking: OR = 1.76, 95% CI = 1.10, 2.82). Using solid fuels for both cooking and heating (OR = 2.36; 95% CI, 1.38, 4.03) was associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality, while using solid fuels with a single purpose was not (OR = 1.52; 95% CI, 0.90, 2.55). Protective tendencies were detected in switching solid to clean fuel for cooking (OR = 0.62; 95% CI, 0.32, 1.17) and heating (OR = 0.62; 95% CI, 0.35, 1.10). CONCLUSION: Either cooking or heating with solid fuels increases the risk of all-cause mortality among Chinese mid-aged and aging people in the urban area of China. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12940-022-00903-6.