Impacts of Wildfire Smoke and Air Pollution on a Pediatric Population with Asthma: A Population-Based Study

Linn E. Moore, Andre Oliveira, Raymond Zhang, Laleh Behjat and Anne Hicks ()
Additional contact information
Linn E. Moore: Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1C9, Canada
Andre Oliveira: Department of Electrical and Software Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive, Calgary, AB T3L 2M6, Canada
Raymond Zhang: Department of Computer Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
Laleh Behjat: Department of Electrical and Software Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive, Calgary, AB T3L 2M6, Canada
Anne Hicks: Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1C9, Canada

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 3, 1-12

Abstract: Wildfires are increasing yearly in number and severity as a part of the evolving climate crisis. These fires are a significant source of air pollution, a common driver of flares in cardiorespiratory disease, including asthma, which is the most common chronic disease of childhood. Poorly controlled asthma leads to significant societal costs through morbidity, mortality, lost school and work time and healthcare utilization. This retrospective cohort study set in Calgary, Canada evaluates the relationship between asthma exacerbations during wildfire smoke events and equivalent low-pollution periods in a pediatric asthma population. Air pollution was based on daily average levels of PM 2.5 . Wildfire smoke events were determined by combining information from provincial databases and local monitors. Exposures were assumed using postal codes in the health record at the time of emergency department visits. Provincial claims data identified 27,501 asthma exacerbations in 57,375 children with asthma between 2010 to 2021. Wildfire smoke days demonstrated an increase in asthma exacerbations over the baseline (incidence rate ratio: 1.13; 95% CI: 1.02–1.24); this was not seen with air pollution in general. Increased rates of asthma exacerbations were also noted yearly in September. Asthma exacerbations were significantly decreased during periods of COVID-19 healthcare precautions.

Keywords: wildfire; wildland fires; forest fires; pediatric population; asthma; air pollution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/1937/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/1937/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:1937-:d:1042360

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().