Do meteorological changes and air pollution increase the risk of pneumonia?

Our study aimed to evaluate the relationship between pneumonia, air pollution (sulfur dioxide [SO2] and particulate matter [PM10]) and meteorological data (atmospheric pressure, amount of rainfall, temperature, rate of humidity, sunshine duration and wind velocity).

Our study included 822 of the 826 patients who were admitted to the emergency service of our hospital between August 2016 and July 2017 and who were diagnosed with pneumonia. Four patients whose information was not available were excluded from the study. The data for the patients were obtained retrospectively from the hospital information system and patient emergency files. The meteorological data were obtained from the website of the Ministry of the Environment and Urbanization and from the Directorate General of Meteorology of our city. Daily meteorological data (SO2, PM10, air pressure, temperature, humidity, wind speed and sunshine duration) were compared with the number of daily patients admitted to the emergency department and diagnosed with pneumonia. Statistical analysis was performed using Pearson correlation analysis.

Three hundred and twenty-nine of the patients were female, and 493 were male. A total of 605 inpatients, of whom 106 were in the intensive care unit, were treated in the hospital, while 217 were outpatients. A statistically significant relationship was found between the number of patients with pneumonia and the intensity of SO2 (r= 0.740; p<0.001), atmospheric pressure (r= -0.691; p<0.01), wind velocity (r= 0.777; p<0.001), average humidity rate (r= -0.454; p<005) and sunshine duration (r= 0.475; p<0.05).

We determined that meteorological changes are important risk factors in the development of pneumonia and that reducing air pollution and taking protective measures may decrease the frequency of pneumonia and the mortality rates related to pneumonia.