Short-term effects of air pollution on hospitalization of children with acute upper respiratory infections: A time series analysis in Lanzhou, China

ObjectiveShort-term air pollution exposure is correlated with childhood acute upper respiratory infections (AURI) hospitalizations. We surveyed the relationship between AURI hospitalizations and air pollutant concentrations in children aged 0-14 years from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2019 in Lanzhou City.MethodsWe collected both data on air pollutant concentrations and children's AURI hospitalizations during the study period. Distributional lagged nonlinear models were adopted to assess the short-term effects of air pollutants on children's AURI hospitalizations. We also performed subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis.ResultsA total of 15,881 children were hospitalized for AURI during the study period. The results showed that for each 10 mu g/m3 increase in PM2.5, SO2, and NO2 concentrations at lag0-6, the relative risk (RR) values for children hospitalized for AURI were RR = 1.0247 (95% CI: 1.0092,1.0405), RR = 1.0928 (95% CI: 1.0562, 1.1308), and RR = 1.0715 (95% CI: 1.0495, 1.0940), respectively. PM10 was significantly associated with AURI hospitalization in children only at lag0, RR = 1.0028 (95% CI: 1.0000, 1.0056).ConclusionShort-term exposures to PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and NO2 all increase the risk of AURI hospitalization in children variously.