Association between particulate matter air pollution and monthly inhalation and nebulization procedures in Ribeir?o Preto, S?o Paulo State, Brazil

摘要

The study was designed to investigate the impact of air pollution on monthly inhalationebulization procedures in Ribeir?o Preto, S?o Paulo State, Brazil, from 2004 to 2010. To assess the relationship between the procedures and particulate matter (PM10) a Bayesian Poisson regression model was used, including a random factor that captured extra-Poisson variability between counts. Particulate matter was associated with the monthly number of inhalationebulization procedures, but the inclusion of covariates (temperature, precipitation, and season of the year) suggests a possible confounding effect. Although other studies have linked particulate matter to an increasing number of visits due to respiratory morbidity, the results of this study suggest that such associations should be interpreted with caution.