Factors Affecting to Diseases of the Respiratory Systems in Muang District, Khon Kaen Province

Abstract

Air pollution and climate change are problems and are likely to become more serious in the future and affect public health. However, data on correlation to health are limited. This study aimed to study the situation of dust concentrations up to 2.5 microns in the atmosphere, meteorological factors, exposure to respiratory disease treatment, and factors affecting the occurrence of respiratory disease in the area of Muang District, Khon Kaen Province. This research was a retrospective cohort study. Secondary data were collected, including air pollution concentration data, meteorological data, and respiratory disease exposure data between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2019 for 5 years. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including frequency, mean, standard deviation, maximum, minimum, and inferential statistics. A statistical method used was Poisson regression to determine the factors that influenced the onset of respiratory disease, presenting an IRR value and a 95% confidence interval.

The study found that the majority of the patients were male, totaling 56,879 (55.08%). The mean male was 948 per month (standard deviation was 193.84). Most of the patients were younger than 65 years, 71,815 (69.54%). The mean of patients younger than 65 was 1,197 per month (standard deviation was 236.81). The results of the Poisson regression analysis revealed that the factors affecting the incidence of respiratory disease were statistically significant (p-value<0.05), i.e. PM_2.5 caused the incidence of respiratory disease to be 1.0025 times (IRR=1.0025; 95% CI=1.0018-1.0032), Relative humidity incidence rate ratio of respiratory disease to be 1.0047 times (IRR=1.0047; 95% CI=1.0036-1.0057). Wind speed caused the incidence of respiratory disease to be 0.9967 times (IRR=0.9967; 95% CI=0.9953-0.9981) and air pressure caused the incidence of respiratory disease to be 1.0024 times (IRR=1.0024; 95% CI=1.0020-1.0029).

The study suggested that increase of 10 µg/m³ in PM_2.5, the incidence of respiratory disease was increased with 2.5%. Meteorological factors were also found to influence the development of respiratory disease as well. The data obtained can be used as a guideline for planning environmental health management, setting measures for control, prevention, and monitoring of particulate matter up to 2.5 microns (PM_2.5) affecting health as well as preparing for action with future problems that may arise further. In addition to environmental data, there are limited number of automatic air quality monitoring stations, so PM_2.5 monitoring points should be added in different areas in order to be comprehensive to analyze public health data in that area appropriately.