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Asian dust storms result in a higher risk of the silicosis hospital admissions

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Abstract

Purpose

Previous studies found that silicosis was majorly associated with occupation-related risks. However, little evidence was available to clarify the relation between Asian dust storm (ADS) and silicosis hospital admissions. This present paper aims to investigate the association between ADS events and hospital admissions for silicosis.

Methods

We applied a Poisson time-series regression on the 2000-2012 National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan, linking air quality data and ambient temperature data to estimate the impact of ADS on silicosis hospital admissions in the age-specific groups.

Results

A total of 2154 hospital admissions were recorded for silicosis in Taiwan, for a daily average number of 0.45. The number rises from 0.43 on a day without ADS to 0.70 on the outbreak day and continues increasing to 0.83 one day after outbreak. Among patients under 45, the effect of ADS appears on the event day as well as several post-event days (lag2-6) at the significant level of p < 0.1. There is also a significant lag effect on post-event day 2 (p < 0.05) for those aged above 74.

Conclusion

Asian dust storms do result in a rise of silicosis hospital admissions, particularly for those above 74, those under 45, and for females.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Finance, National Taipei University, 151, University Rd., San Shia, New Taipei City, Taiwan, 237

    Tsai-Ching Liu & Yu-I Peng

  2. Department of Economics, National Taipei University, 151, University Rd., San Shia, New Taipei City, Taiwan, 237

    Hui-Hsuan Tang

  3. Department of Statistics, National Taipei University, 151, University Rd., San Shia, New Taipei City, Taiwan, 237

    Shu-Yi Lei

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  1. Tsai-Ching Liu
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Liu, TC., Tang, HH., Lei, SY. et al. Asian dust storms result in a higher risk of the silicosis hospital admissions. J Environ Health Sci Engineer 20, 305–314 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40201-021-00777-9

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