RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Long-term air pollution exposure is associated with sick leave 20 years later
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP OA5182
DO 10.1183/13993003.congress-2018.OA5182
VO 52
IS suppl 62
A1 Ane Johannessen
A1 Ingrid Nordeide Kuiper
A1 Simone Accordini
A1 Randi Jacobsen Bertelsen
A1 Bertil Forsberg
A1 Thorarinn Gislason
A1 Joachim Heinrich
A1 Mathias Holm
A1 Rain Jögi
A1 Jorunn Kirkeleit
A1 Andrei Malinovschi
A1 Alessandro Marcon
A1 Iana Markevych
A1 Anna Oudin
A1 Vivi Schlünssen
A1 Torben Sigsgaard
A1 Cecilie Svanes
A1 Kjell Torén
A1 Christer Janson
YR 2018
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/52/suppl_62/OA5182.abstract
AB Background: Little is known on outdoor air pollution in a long-term perspective and societal costs such as sick leave. In the Nordic countries, recent pollution health impact assessments have had to rely on outdated studies.Aims: To investigate if air pollution exposure is associated with sick leave 20 years later.Methods: We analysed self-reported sick leave (all-cause and respiratory) in 7 466 subjects from Bergen, Gothenburg, Umea, Uppsala in the RHINE3 study in 2010-12. Home addresses were geocoded and linked to annual average concentrations of PM2.5, PM10 and NO2 at RHINE3, 10 years earlier and 20 years earlier, using existing land-use regression (LUR) models. We performed multilevel logistic regression clustered by centre, and adjusted for sex, smoking, education and previous health-related workplace change.Results: Age range in RHINE3 was 40-66 yrs, 34% and 4% reported all-cause and respiratory sick leave during the last year. In the adjusted analyses all-cause sick leave was associated with PM2.5 20 years earlier (OR per interquartile range (IQR) difference (2.6 µg/m³) 1.12 (95%CI 1.01, 1.24)), and borderline with NO2 (OR per IQR diff (8.1 µg/m³) 1.09 (95%CI 0.99, 1.19)). Respiratory sick leave was associated with PM10 20 years earlier (OR per IQR diff (3.92 µg/m³) 1.54 (95%CI 1.06, 2.25)), and borderline with PM2.5 (OR per IQR diff 1.31 (95%CI 0.97, 1.76)). Pollution exposures at present as well as 10 years earlier were not significantly associated with sick leave.Conclusions: Air pollution exposure in a general population is associated with sick leave in a 20-year perspective. Our findings suggest that even low air pollution levels such as in Northern Europe have societal costs over time.FootnotesCite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2018 52: Suppl. 62, OA5182.This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).