Acute effects of ambient air pollution on outpatients with chronic rhinitis in Xinxiang, China

Air pollution exposure leads to increased mortality and morbidity rates of respiratory diseases. Most of the evidence was founded on acute diseases such as acute lower respiratory diseases. However, limited studies have been conducted to evaluate the effects of air pollution on chronic respiratory diseases. This time-series study was conducted to examine the acute effects of 6 criteria ambient air pollutants on hospital outpatients with chronic rhinitis (CR) in Xinxiang, China. We retrieved 223,826 outpatient records of patients with respiratory diseases, of which 62,901 were those of patients with CR. Results showed that the current 10-μg/m³ increase in fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), inhalable particulate matter (PM₁₀), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), and carbon monoxide (CO) corresponds to 0.67% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.15-1.18%), 0.58% (95% CI: 0.24-0.92%), 1.89% (95% CI: 0.52-3.27%), 3.01% (95% CI: 1.66-4.35%), and 0.06% (95% CI: 0.03-0.10%) increments in outpatients with CR, respectively. In addition, the effects in the male were stronger than those in the female. Higher effect estimates were observed in the old (≥ 65 years of age) and younger (< 15 years of age) groups. Our study confirmed the association between air pollution and outpatients with CR in Xinxiang, China. More stringent air pollution control measures must be implemented.