Döndü Şanlıtürk
Thoracic Research and Practice - 2025;26(6):314-322
OBJECTIVE: Air pollution can exacerbate respiratory illnesses, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia, bronchitis, and upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs). This study investigated the causal relationship between air pollution and emergency department visits for certain respiratory illnesses, such as pneumonia, acute bronchitis, URTIs, and exacerbations of asthma and COPD. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study was conducted between 1 April 1 2023 and 30 March 2024. The causal relationship between the number of asthma, COPD, pneumonia, bronchitis, and URTI patients visiting the emergency department and air pollution levels was determined by conducting a Granger causality analysis. RESULTS: It was determined that the highest number of visits to the emergency room was in January , and the highest concentrations of air pollutants were in December. According to the results of the Granger causality test, there was a one-way causal relationship between nitrogen (NO), nitrogen oxide (NOX), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels and the numbers of patients with asthma, COPD, pneumonia, bronchitis, and URTI, as well as a relationship between particulate matter10 (PM10) concentrations and the numbers of patients with pneumonia and bronchitis. CONCLUSION: There is a causal relationship between levels of air pollutants including NO, NOX, NO2, and PM10 and the numbers of patients with respiratory diseases visiting the emergency department.
