Air pollution and pediatric respiratory hospital admissions in Bursa, Turkey: A time series study

We aimed to investigate the relation between air pollution and the number of daily hospitalizations due to pneumonia, asthma, bronchitis in children aged 0-18 in Bursa city of Turkey, between the years 2013-2018. The daily values of air pollutants (PM10, SO2, NO2, NOx, CO, and O3) from 2013 until 2018, were obtained. Adjusted Quasi-Poisson regression models including distributed lags, controlled for climate variables were used for data analysis. Increases in SO2, ozone, PMs, and nitrogen oxides were associated with pneumonia hospitalizations, increases in SO2 NOx and PMs were associated with asthma hospitalizations, and increases in SO2 and ozone were associated with bronchitis hospitalizations. Male hospitalization was related with SO2, ozone, and NOx; while female hospitalization was only related with SO2. This study showed that short-term exposure to air pollution is associated with an increased risk of pneumonia, asthma, and bronchitis hospitalization among children in Bursa.