Association between Dry Eye Disease, Air Pollution and Weather Changes in Taiwan
Dry eye disease (DED) has become a common eye disease in recent years and appears to be influenced by environmental factors. This study aimed to examine the association between the first occurrence of DED, air pollution and weather changes in Taiwan. We used the systematic sampling cohort database c...
Main Authors: | , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
MDPI AG
2018-10-01
|
Series: | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/10/2269 |
id |
doaj-9bd0ab60afbf44eabf18c0ccab19d237 |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-9bd0ab60afbf44eabf18c0ccab19d2372020-11-25T00:16:49ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1660-46012018-10-011510226910.3390/ijerph15102269ijerph15102269Association between Dry Eye Disease, Air Pollution and Weather Changes in TaiwanJia-Yu Zhong0Yuan-Chieh Lee1Chia-Jung Hsieh2Chun-Chieh Tseng3Lih-Ming Yiin4Department of Public Health, Tzu Chi University, 701, Sec. 3, Zhongyang Road, Hualien City 97004, TaiwanDepartment of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Tzu Chi University, 701, Sec. 3, Zhongyang Road, Hualien City 97004, TaiwanDepartment of Public Health, Tzu Chi University, 701, Sec. 3, Zhongyang Road, Hualien City 97004, TaiwanDepartment of Public Health, Tzu Chi University, 701, Sec. 3, Zhongyang Road, Hualien City 97004, TaiwanDepartment of Public Health, Tzu Chi University, 701, Sec. 3, Zhongyang Road, Hualien City 97004, TaiwanDry eye disease (DED) has become a common eye disease in recent years and appears to be influenced by environmental factors. This study aimed to examine the association between the first occurrence of DED, air pollution and weather changes in Taiwan. We used the systematic sampling cohort database containing 1,000,000 insureds of the National Health Insurance of Taiwan from 2004 to 2013, and identified a total of 25,818 eligible DED subjects. Environmental data, including those of air pollutants, temperature and relative humidity, were retrieved from the environmental monitoring stations adjacent to subjects’ locations of clinics as exposure information. We applied the case-crossover design, which used the same subjects experiencing exposures on diagnosis days as cases and those on other days as controls. The descriptive statistics showed that the first occurrences of DED were the most for the elderly by age (53.6%), women by gender (68.9%), and spring by season (25.9%). Multivariate conditional logistic regression analyses indicated that carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and temperature were positively associated with DED (p < 0.05), while relative humidity was negatively related (p < 0.001). Because CO and NO2 together are considered a surrogate of traffic emission, which is easier to control than the uprising temperature, it is suggested that efficient management and control of traffic emission may lower the probability of DED occurrence.http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/10/2269air pollutiondry eye diseaserelative humidityTaiwantemperaturetraffic emission |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Jia-Yu Zhong Yuan-Chieh Lee Chia-Jung Hsieh Chun-Chieh Tseng Lih-Ming Yiin |
spellingShingle |
Jia-Yu Zhong Yuan-Chieh Lee Chia-Jung Hsieh Chun-Chieh Tseng Lih-Ming Yiin Association between Dry Eye Disease, Air Pollution and Weather Changes in Taiwan International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health air pollution dry eye disease relative humidity Taiwan temperature traffic emission |
author_facet |
Jia-Yu Zhong Yuan-Chieh Lee Chia-Jung Hsieh Chun-Chieh Tseng Lih-Ming Yiin |
author_sort |
Jia-Yu Zhong |
title |
Association between Dry Eye Disease, Air Pollution and Weather Changes in Taiwan |
title_short |
Association between Dry Eye Disease, Air Pollution and Weather Changes in Taiwan |
title_full |
Association between Dry Eye Disease, Air Pollution and Weather Changes in Taiwan |
title_fullStr |
Association between Dry Eye Disease, Air Pollution and Weather Changes in Taiwan |
title_full_unstemmed |
Association between Dry Eye Disease, Air Pollution and Weather Changes in Taiwan |
title_sort |
association between dry eye disease, air pollution and weather changes in taiwan |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
issn |
1660-4601 |
publishDate |
2018-10-01 |
description |
Dry eye disease (DED) has become a common eye disease in recent years and appears to be influenced by environmental factors. This study aimed to examine the association between the first occurrence of DED, air pollution and weather changes in Taiwan. We used the systematic sampling cohort database containing 1,000,000 insureds of the National Health Insurance of Taiwan from 2004 to 2013, and identified a total of 25,818 eligible DED subjects. Environmental data, including those of air pollutants, temperature and relative humidity, were retrieved from the environmental monitoring stations adjacent to subjects’ locations of clinics as exposure information. We applied the case-crossover design, which used the same subjects experiencing exposures on diagnosis days as cases and those on other days as controls. The descriptive statistics showed that the first occurrences of DED were the most for the elderly by age (53.6%), women by gender (68.9%), and spring by season (25.9%). Multivariate conditional logistic regression analyses indicated that carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and temperature were positively associated with DED (p < 0.05), while relative humidity was negatively related (p < 0.001). Because CO and NO2 together are considered a surrogate of traffic emission, which is easier to control than the uprising temperature, it is suggested that efficient management and control of traffic emission may lower the probability of DED occurrence. |
topic |
air pollution dry eye disease relative humidity Taiwan temperature traffic emission |
url |
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/10/2269 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT jiayuzhong associationbetweendryeyediseaseairpollutionandweatherchangesintaiwan AT yuanchiehlee associationbetweendryeyediseaseairpollutionandweatherchangesintaiwan AT chiajunghsieh associationbetweendryeyediseaseairpollutionandweatherchangesintaiwan AT chunchiehtseng associationbetweendryeyediseaseairpollutionandweatherchangesintaiwan AT lihmingyiin associationbetweendryeyediseaseairpollutionandweatherchangesintaiwan |
_version_ |
1725382331265449984 |