Air Pollution and Emergency Department Visits for Depression: A Multicity Case-Crossover Study
- DOI
- Language of the publication
- English
- Date
- 2016-08-30
- Type
- Article
- Author(s)
- Szyszkowicz, Mieczysław
- Kousha, Termeh
- Kingsbury, Mila
- Colman, Ian
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
Abstract
Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between ambient air pollution and emergency department (ED) visits for depression. Methods: Health data were retrieved from the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System. ED visits for depression were retrieved from the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System using the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), Tenth revision codes; ICD-10: F32 (mild depressive episode) and ICD-10: F33 (recurrent depressive disorder). A case-crossover design was employed for this study. Conditional logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios. Results: For females, exposure to ozone was associated with increased risk of an ED visit for depression between 1 and 7 days after exposure, for males, between 1 and 5, and 8 days after exposure, with odds ratios ranging between 1.02 and 1.03. Conclusions: These findings suggest that, as hypothesized, there is a positive association between exposure to air pollution and ED visits for depression.
Plain language summary
Health Canada is responsible for the assessment the health risks associated with air pollution as described in the Clean Air Regulatory Agenda. Air pollution is composed of a wide range of harmful gases (including carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide) and dust particles of varying sizes. Evidence indicates that exposure to air pollution can aggravate a wide range of health problems, including depression. Depression is among the most common mental health problems: 1 in 10 Canadians experience major depression at some point in their lives which interferes with daily functioning and quality of life and places a significant burden on the health care system. Many factors can contribute to depression: stressful life events, medical treatments and other (non-psychiatric) illnesses. In addition, recent studies have demonstrated an association between air pollution and symptoms of depression. By examining data on daily air quality and comparing it with data on the number of people who go to hospital emergency departments for depression (obtained from nine hospitals across Ontario), this study tried to determine which components of air pollution could aggravate depression. The results revealed that more patients went to emergency departments for treatment of depression when ozone and sulphur dioxide levels were higher than in other time periods. The number of treated patients with depression was also associated with dust levels and the time of year. While this study adds to the growing body of evidence that links depression to certain air pollutants, additional studies would be required to fully understand the association of air pollution and depression and the reasons for that association. This study was conducted in collaboration with University of Ottawa, Ottawa.
Subject
- Health,
- Health and safety