A comparative study of hospital admissions for respiratory diseases during normal and dusty days in Iran

During the last century, most of people around the world moved from communicable to non-communicable diseases, mainly due to air pollution. Air pollutants and dust storm increase risk of morbidity, for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and increase the number of deaths. The city of Ahvaz is considered as the focal point of air pollution and dust storm in Iran. The aim of this study was to determine the number of Hospital Admission Respiratory Disease (HARD) including asthma attacks, acute bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease attributed to PM₁₀ by a descriptive study during normal and dust event days in Ahvaz during the time period 2010-2012. The hourly PM₁₀ data was collected from the Iranian Environmental Protection Agency and Razi hospital. The annual PM₁₀ mean concentrations reached 282, 288 and 278 μg/m³ in 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively. The number of HARD attributed to PM₁₀ was 1438, 1945 and 1393 people, respectively, and the highest number of daily admissions was attributed to the highest daily PM₁₀ concentration in Ahvaz. The average number of daily HARD during dusty days was higher than normal days, and a significant positive correlation, between the number of hospital admissions and dusty days, was found. Dust had significant impact on HARD in Ahvaz.