Long-term exposure to air pollution and mortality in the Danish population a nationwide study
Ole Raaschou‐Nielsen, Erla Thorsteinson, Sussie Antonsen, Gitte Juel Holst, Torben Sigsgaard, Camilla Geels, Lise Marie Frohn, Jesper Heile Christensen, Jørgen Brandt, Carsten Bøcker Pedersen, Ulla Arthur Hvidtfeldt
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Studies have shown higher mortality in association with exposure to air pollution. We investigated this association with focus on differences between socioeconomic groups. METHODS: ) as five-year average concentrations at the residential addresses of 672,895 all natural cause mortality cases and 3,426,533 controls in conditional logistic regression with adjustment for individual and neighbourhood level socio-demographic variables. FINDINGS: , and BC were largest among those with the lowest income; this pattern was not detected when considering the relative risk measure, MRR. INTERPRETATION: Long-term concentration of air pollution at the residence was associated with higher natural cause mortality in the Danish population and the strength of the association differed by socioeconomic group. We recommend that future studies express socioeconomic differences in absolute rather than relative risk.