Short-term and lagged effects of ambient air pollutants on CVD hospitalization: A two-decade population-based study...

To evaluate the relationship between short-term exposure to ambient air pollutants and cardiovascular disease (CVD) hospitalizations.

A time-series analysis was conducted using data from the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study cohort of 3454 residents (1880 women) aged 50-70 from District 13 of Tehran. Follow-up data from January 1999 to March 2018 were analyzed. Daily mean temperatures and air pollution levels (CO, O₃, PM₁₀, NO₂, and SO₂) were recorded, and distributed lag non-linear models (DLNMs) assessed the lagged effects on outcome.

Over a median follow-up of 14.7 years, 2200 CVD hospitalizations occurred among 3454 participants (mean age 58.7 years, women = 1880). Among the general population, the DLNM models indicated that PM10 concentrations at 73 μg/m³ was associated with a 12 % increased risk of the outcome, with an RR of 1.12 (95 % CI: 1.01-1.24), and higher PM10 levels corresponded to increasing RRs. PM10 indicated a short-term exposure effect at 1-day lag on the outcome risk. SO₂ concentrations reached significance at 24 μg/m³, with an RR of 1.06 (95 % CI: 1.04-1.07); the effect persisted up to 65 μg/m³, with an increased risk of the outcome observed at a 6-day lag. CO showed the highest RR of 1.92 (95 % CI: 1.65-2.23) for the concentration of 5 mg/m3. Exposure to CO was linked to an increased risk of the outcome with a 1-day lag. Sex as well as presence of metabolic syndrome and CKD did not modify the association between air pollutants with the outcome.

Short-term exposure to PM10, SO2 and CO significantly increased risk of CVD hospitalization.