The effects of air pollution and precipitation on outpatient visits for primary glaucoma: a multi-model time series analysis

The purpose was to explore the correlation of air pollutants and meteorological factors with primary glaucoma. Outpatient information and data on air pollutants and meteorological factors were collected from 2017 to 2019. A generalized linear model (GLM) was used to construct single-pollutant models and multiple-pollutant models to analyse the correlations among primary glaucoma visits, air pollutants and meteorological factors in Shenyang. Air pollution had a significant impact on the number of outpatient visits for primary glaucoma in Shenyang. In single-pollutant models and under optimal lag-day conditions, each 10-unit increase in these exposures was associated with the following excess risk (ER) values for daily outpatient visits for primary glaucoma: precipitation (− 4.2%), particulate matter 10 (PM10) (0.7%), SO2 (2.4%), NO2 (4.1%) and O3 (− 1.6%). Every 0.1 mg/m3 increase in CO was associated with a 0.7% ER. The ERs for primary glaucoma in multiple-pollutant models were as follows: NO2 + CO (3.6%), NO2 + SO2 (1.8%), NO2 + PM10 (0.7%), NO2+ CO + PM10 (0.7%), NO2 + SO2 + PM10 (0.6%) and NO2 + SO2 + CO (1.8%). When the concentration of air pollutants increases, the number of outpatient visits by patients diagnosed with primary glaucoma in Shenyang increases correspondingly, and there may be an antagonistic interaction among pollutants.