PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Kristina Ranc
AU  - Per B. Brockoff
AU  - Reimer W. Thomsen
AU  - Ole Raaschou Nielsen
AU  - Matthias Ketzel
AU  - Steen S. Jensen
AU  - Anne Tjønneland
AU  - Kim Overvad
AU  - Zorana Jovanovic Andersen
TI  - Late-breaking abstract: Pneumonia hospitalizations and long-term exposure to air pollution: A cohort study
DP  - 2011 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - 3439
VI  - 38
IP  - Suppl 55
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/3439.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/3439.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2011 Sep 01; 38
AB  - Background: Long-term exposure to air pollution has been associated with cardiovascular and chronic lung disease, but limited evidence exist on the risk for pneumonia.Aim: To investigate the effect of long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution (up to 38 years) in Copenhagen and Aarhus on hospital admissions for pneumonia.Methods: We followed 57053 participants of Danish Cancer, Diet, and Health cohort, aged 50-65 years at baseline (1993-1997) in Danish hospital discharge register for first hospital admissions for pneumonia between baseline and 2010. The annual nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels were estimated at residential address since 1971 as a proxy of exposure to traffic-related air pollution. We modelled the association between mean NO2 levels and hospitalizations for pneumonia using Cox regression.Results: During 12.7 years' mean follow-up, 3024 (5.7%) out of 53239 eligible people were admitted to hospital for pneumonia. Mean NO2 levels were significantly positively associated with risk for first pneumonia hospitalization in the full cohort (hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval per double mean exposure: 1.25; 1.13-1.35); with similar effect for first-ever pneumonia admission in 46462 people without earlier hospitalizations for pneumonia or co-morbid conditions defined by Charlson (1.23; 1.11-1.37), and in 6292 people with history of co-morbid conditions (1.22; 1.02-1.46), wheras enahnced association was observed in 485 people with a history of pneumonia hospitalizations (1.45; 0.85-2.47).Conclusions: Living in areas with high traffic-related air pollution increases the risk of hospitalization for pneumonia.