Short-term exposure of PM(2.5) and PM(10) increases the number of outpatients with eczema in Guangzhou: A time-series study

BACKGROUND: The worldwide prevalence of eczema has continued to rise over the past decades. This has led to the emphasis on the association between air pollution and eczema. This study investigated the relationship between daily exposure to air pollution and the number of eczema outpatient visits in Guangzhou with the overarching goal of providing novel insights on the interventions for eczema aggravation and prevention. METHODS: Daily air pollution data, meteorological data, and the number of eczema outpatients were obtained from 18 January 2013 to 31 December 2018 in Guangzhou. A generalized additive model with Poisson distribution was used to assess the association between the number of eczema outpatient visits and short-term exposure to PM(2.5) and PM(10). In addition, the association of PM(2.5) and PM(10) by age (<65 years, ≥65 years) and gender was evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 293,343 eczema outpatient visits were recorded. The obtained results indicated that a 10 μg/m(3) increase of the same day/lag 1 day/lag 2 days PM(2.5) was associated with increments of 2.33%, 1.81%, and 0.95% in eczema outpatient risk, respectively. On the other hand, a 10 μg/m(3) increase of PM(10) was associated with eczema outpatients risk increments of 1.97%, 1.65%, and 0.98% respectively. Furthermore, the associations of PM on the increment of eczema were similar in the male and female groups. Results obtained after age stratified analyses indicated that the strongest positive association between PM(2.5) exposure and eczema was observed at lag 0 day with the percent changes being 4.72% and 3.34% in <12 years old, ≥12 and <65 years old, and ≥65 years old groups, respectively. CONCLUSION: Short-term exposure to PM(2.5) and PM(10) increases the number of eczema outpatients, especially among children and the elderly. The relationship between air quality trends and hospital resource arrangement should be paid attention to by hospital managers which may aid in disease prevention and lower the health burden.