| Abstract: | East Asia dust storms originated in China, bringing abundant suspended particulate matters (PMs), are investigated to examine the association between their arrivals and clinical visits for respiratory diseases (RCV - Respiratory disease Clinical Visit). Taiwan, located in the downwind with a well-documented health database from the National Health Insurance, is selected for the study. Children under the age of 17 years, because of their regular daily activities and outdoor exposures, who are diagnosed with respiratory disease, are our targeted population. We conducted a case-crossover design and used the conditional regression analysis to explore the relationship between the dust storms and RCV, for cases between 2000 and 2012, when severe dust storms were mostly recorded. In total, 2,253,092 patients were recruited. The analysis shows that the coming of dust storms significantly affects the condition of RCV in children. After adjusting for temperature, relative humidity, and air pollutant concentrations, dust storm in springtime is associated with an increase in RCV. In contrast, dust storm impact in wintertime is associated with a decrease in RCV. In addition, PM 2.5 concentrations associated positively with RCV among children, especially in the southern region of Taiwan in springtime and in the central and southern regions of Taiwan in wintertime. In short, the results showed that the occurrence of dust storms affects the RCV in children. PM 2.5 exposure is also responsible for the increase in children 's RCV. |
