Air pollution and the pandemic: Long‐term <scp>PM<sub>2.5</sub></scp> exposure and disease severity in <scp>COVID</scp>‐19 patients
Angelico Mendy, Xiao Wu, Jason L. Keller, Cecily S. Fassler, Senu Apewokin, Tesfaye B. Mersha, Changchun Xie, Susan M. Pinney
Abstract
Abstract Background and objective Ecological studies have suggested an association between exposure to particulate matter ≤2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) severity. However, these findings are yet to be validated in individual‐level studies. We aimed to determine the association of long‐term PM 2.5 exposure with hospitalization among individual patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2). Methods We estimated the 10‐year (2009–2018) PM 2.5 exposure at the residential zip code of COVID‐19 patients diagnosed at the University of Cincinnati healthcare system between 13 March 2020 and 30 September 2020. Logistic regression was used to determine the odds ratio (OR) and 95% CI for COVID‐19 hospitalizations associated with PM 2.5 , adjusting for socioeconomic characteristics and comorbidities. Results Among the 14,783 COVID‐19 patients included in our study, 13.6% were hospitalized; the geometric mean (SD) PM 2.5 was 10.48 (1.12) μg/m 3 . In adjusted analysis, 1 μg/m 3 increase in 10‐year annual average PM 2.5 was associated with 18% higher hospitalization (OR: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.11–1.26). Likewise, 1 μg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 estimated for the year 2018 was associated with 14% higher hospitalization (OR: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.08–1.21). Conclusion Long‐term PM 2.5 exposure is associated with increased hospitalization in COVID‐19. Therefore, more stringent COVID‐19 prevention measures may be needed in areas with higher PM 2.5 exposure to reduce the disease morbidity and healthcare burden.