Acute effects of ambient nitrogen dioxide pollution on outpatient visits for neurological diseases in Xinxiang, China

Accumulating evidence suggests that exposure to air pollution acts as a potential trigger for neurological diseases (NDs), yet the current knowledge regarding the impact of ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) on the patients with NDs remains limited. In this study, we conducted a time-series study to evaluate the association between short-term exposure to NO₂ and hospital visits for NDs in Xinxiang, China.

An over-dispersed Poisson generalized additive model was used to analyze the association between ambient NO₂ concentrations and daily outpatient visits for NDs from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017. The model adjusted for meteorological factors, temporal trends, day of the week, and public holidays. The concentrations of air pollutants were collected from four air quality stations in Xinxiang.

A total of 38, 865 outpatient visits for NDs were retrieved during the study period. 86.5% of the patients were below the age of 65 years. It was revealed that a 10 µg/m³ increase in NO₂ at lag 0 was associated with a significant rise of 1.50% (95% CI: 0.45-2.56%) in outpatient visits for NDs, which was stronger during the cold season. However, the overall results from stratified analyses did not reach statistical significance.

Short-term exposure to NO₂ is associated with increased outpatient visits for NDs. These findings underscore the need for implementing mitigating measures to reduce the neurological health effects of air pollutants.