Impact of a long-term air pollution exposure on the case fatality rate of COVID-19 patients-A multicity study

Evidence in the literature suggests that air pollution exposure affects outcomes of patients with COVID-19. However, the extent of this effect requires further investigation. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between long-term exposure to air pollution and the case fatality rate (CFR) of patients with COVID-19. The data on air quality index (AQI), PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, and O-3 from 14 major cities in China in the past 5 years (2015-2020) were collected, and the CRF of COVID-19 patients in these cities was calculated. First, we investigated the correlation between CFR and long-term air quality indicators. Second, we examined the air pollutants affecting CFR and evaluated their predictive values. We found a positive correlation between the CFR and AQI (1, 3, and 5 years), PM2.5 (1, 3, and 5 years), and PM10 (1, 3, and 5 years). Further analysis indicated the more significant correlation for both AQI (3 and 5 years) and PM2.5 (1, 3, and 5 years) with CFR, and moderate predictive values for air pollution indicators such as AQI (1, 3, and 5 years) and PM2.5 (1, 3, and 5 years) for CFR. Our results indicate that long-term exposure to severe air pollution is associated with higher CFR of COVID-19 patients. Air pollutants such as PM2.5 may assist with the prediction of CFR for COVID-19 patients.