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Ambient Air Pollution and Asthma-Coded Hospital Admission Rates in Children Aged 0-3 Years in Spain: A

Laura Sánchez de Prada1, Daniel Vélez-Serrano2, Alejandro Alvaro-Meca3,4

  • 1Departamento de Medicina, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Valladolid, 47003 Valladolid, Spain.

Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland)
|July 24, 2026
PubMed

Insights

High levels of particulate matter, specifically PM2.5 and PM10, are associated with increased asthma hospital admissions in young children. This ecological study highlights the impact of air pollution on pediatric respiratory health.

Area of Science:

  • Environmental Health
  • Pediatric Respiratory Medicine
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Asthma-coded hospital admissions in young children are a complex marker for severe respiratory illness.
  • Understanding environmental risk factors for pediatric asthma is crucial for public health.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between ambient air pollution and asthma-coded hospital admissions in children aged 0-3 years.
  • To analyze the impact of specific pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, NO2, SO2, O3, CO) on pediatric respiratory morbidity.

Main Methods:

  • Nationwide ecological study in Spain (2020-2022) using hospital discharge records.
  • Analysis of municipality-year data, correlating air pollutant concentrations with asthma admissions.
  • Poisson and negative-binomial regression models adjusted for relevant covariates.

Main Results:

  • An interquartile range increase in PM2.5 was associated with a 54% increase in asthma admissions (IRR 1.54).
  • An interquartile range increase in PM10 was associated with an 89% increase in asthma admissions (IRR 1.89).
  • Particulate matter associations remained significant after sensitivity analyses, though multipollutant models were unstable.

Conclusions:

  • Ecological associations suggest ambient particulate pollution is linked to increased pediatric respiratory hospitalizations.
  • Findings represent population-level associations, not individual-level causal risks.
  • Further research is needed to understand specific pollutant impacts and mechanisms.

Keywords:
PM10PM2.5Spainair pollutionasthmachildrenecological studyhospital admissionsparticulate matterurban–rural differences

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