BackgroundMost of studies relating ambient cardiovascular hospital admissions exposure to hospital admissions for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) were conducted among urban population. Whether and to what extent these results could be generalizable to rural population remains unknown. We addressed this question using data from the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) in Fuyang, Anhui, China.
MethodsDaily hospital admissions for total CVDs, ischaemic heart disease, heart failure, heart rhythm disturbances, ischaemic stroke, and hemorrhagic stroke in rural regions of Fuyang, China were extracted from NRCMS between January 2015 and June 2017. A two-stage time-series analysis method was used to assess the associations between NO 2 and CVD hospital admissions and the disease burden fractions attributable to NO 2 .
ResultsIn our study period, the average number (standard deviation) of hospital admissions per day were 488.2 (117.1) for total CVDs, 179.8 (45.6) for ischaemic heart disease, 7.0 (3.3) for heart rhythm disturbances, 13.2 (7.2) for heart failure, 267.9 (67.7) for ischaemic stroke, and 20.2 (6.4) for hemorrhagic stroke. The 10 µg/m 3 increase of NO 2 was related to an elevated risk of 1.9% (RR: 1.019, 95% CI: 1.005 to 1.032) for hospital admissions of total CVDs at lag0-2 day, 2.1%(1.021, 1.006 to 1.036) for ischaemic heart disease, and 2.1% (1.021, 1.006 to 1.035) for ischaemic stroke, respectively. While no signi cant association was observed between NO 2 and hospital admissions for heart rhythm disturbances, heart failure, and hemorrhagic stroke. The attributable fractions of total CVDs, ischaemic heart disease, and ischaemic stroke to NO 2 were 6.52% (1.87-10.94%), 7.31% (2.19-12.17%) and 7.12% (2.14-11.85%), respectively.
ConclusionsOur ndings suggest that CVD burdens in rural population are also partly attributed to short-term exposure to NO2. More studies across rural regions are required to replicate our ndings.