Evaluating the Health Risks of Air Quality and Human Thermal Comfort–Discomfort in Relation to Hospital Admissions in the Greater Athens Area, Greece

Aggelos Kladakis, Adrianos Retalis (), Christos Giannaros, Vasileios Vafeiadis, Kyriaki-Maria Fameli, Vasiliki D. Assimakopoulos (), Konstantinos Moustris and Panagiotis T. Nastos
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Aggelos Kladakis: Laboratory of Air Pollution, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of West Attica, Campus 2, 250 Thivon and P. Ralli Str., 12244 Athens, Greece
Adrianos Retalis: Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Athens, Greece
Christos Giannaros: Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Athens, Greece
Vasileios Vafeiadis: Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Athens, Greece
Kyriaki-Maria Fameli: Laboratory of Air Pollution, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of West Attica, Campus 2, 250 Thivon and P. Ralli Str., 12244 Athens, Greece
Vasiliki D. Assimakopoulos: Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Athens, Greece
Konstantinos Moustris: Laboratory of Air Pollution, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of West Attica, Campus 2, 250 Thivon and P. Ralli Str., 12244 Athens, Greece
Panagiotis T. Nastos: Laboratory of Climatology and Atmospheric Environment, Department of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, University Campus, 15784 Athens, Greece

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 11, 1-25

Abstract: The aim of this study is to examine the impact of poor air quality and adverse meteorological conditions on health risks in the Greater Athens Area (GAA), Greece, during the period from 2018 to 2022. Specifically, the aim is to assess the Relative Risk (RR) of hospital admissions (HAs) for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and respiratory diseases (RDs), due to air pollution in combination with thermal discomfort, as well as to identify the time lag effect on admissions. For this purpose, data from six (6) different hospitals within the GAA were collected and used. Statistical analysis of hourly measurements of key pollutants (NO 2 , O 3 , PM 2.5 , and PM 10 ) obtained from the Directorate of Climate Change and Air Quality (DCCAQ), which falls under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MEE), and meteorological parameters (T, RH, and wind velocity), is performed to calculate the daily air quality and human thermal comfort–discomfort levels, respectively. These conditions were examined using appropriate indexes for both air quality and human thermal comfort–discomfort, as independent variables in a Negative Binomial regression model developed in R, with daily HAs (not including scheduled cases or pre-existing health conditions) as the response variable. Moreover, a spatiotemporal analysis of air quality and meteorological parameters is conducted to identify associated variations in health risks. This analysis highlights key risk patterns linked to environmental conditions and the relevant measures to both manage and mitigate the risk. Findings indicate that extreme environmental conditions significantly elevate health risks, with cumulative RR over a one-week period peaking at 1.540 (95% CI: 1.158–2.050) during the warm season, while prolonged increases in the RR are also observed during the cold season, reaching 1.214 (95% CI: 0.937–1.572) under extreme cold exposures.

Keywords: air quality; relative risk; hospital admissions; Athens; Greece (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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