Journal article
Effect of ambient air pollution on the incidence of appendicitis
Gilaad G Kaplan, Elijah Dixon, Remo Panaccione, Andrew Fong, Li Chen, Mieczyslaw Szyszkowicz, Amanda Wheeler, Anthony MacLean, W Donald Buie, Terry Leung, Steven J Heitman, Paul J Villeneuve
CANADIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION JOURNAL | CMA-CANADIAN MEDICAL ASSOC | Published : 2009
DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.082068
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The pathogenesis of appendicitis is unclear. We evaluated whether exposure to air pollution was associated with an increased incidence of appendicitis. METHODS: We identified 5191 adults who had been admitted to hospital with appendicitis between Apr. 1, 1999, and Dec. 31, 2006. The air pollutants studied were ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and suspended particulate matter of less than 10 micro and less than 2.5 micro in diameter. We estimated the odds of appendicitis relative to short-term increases in concentrations of selected pollutants, alone and in combination, after controlling for temperature and relative humidity as well as the effects of age, ..
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Funding Acknowledgements
The authors thank Environment Canada for providing the data on air pollution from the National Air Pollution Surveillance Network. They also thank the Calgary Health Region for providing the administrative data on appendicitis cases and Kris Prepolec for proofreading the manuscript. Gilaad Kaplan is supported through a New Investigator Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Elijah Dixon is supported through a Population Health Investigator Award from the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research and a New Investigator Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.