AIR POLLUTION AND HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS FOR RESPIRATORY DISEASES IN VOLTA REDONDA/RJ

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze the association between exposure to
air pollution and hospital admissions for respiratory diseases (CID‑10: J00-J99)
of residents in Volta Redonda/RJ, in the period from 2013 to 2015, as well as to
estimate their costs. INEA data for PTS, PM10 and O3 and data available on DATASUS
regarding morbidity from respiratory diseases by age group (total, children, and
elderly) were considered. To estimate such an association, the Generalized
Additive Model of Poisson regression was used. There was an increase in the risk
of hospital admission for an increase of 10 μg/m3 of PM10 for the total number
of hospitalizations — lag 2: 1.39% (95%CI 0.23–2.55%) and lag 3 1.36% (95%CI
0.21–2.52%) and for the elderly — lag 3: 1.89% (95%CI 0.02–3.69%), and lag 4
1.9% (95%CI 0.02–3.85%); of PTS for total hospitalizations — lag 2 0.84% (95%CI
0.40–1.64%) and for children under 5 years old (lag 4: 2.2% (95%CI 0.05–4.02%),
and O3 for the elderly (lag 6: 2.41% (95%CI 0.31–4.57%). It is noteworthy that
the associations occurred even when the levels of pollutants did not exceed the
limits established by the legislation. Of the total hospitalizations for the period,
99 were attributed to exposure to PM10, generating a cost of R$ 115,165.25 for
the Unified Health System. It is expected that this information will contribute to
the discussion of the environmental problems in the region.