Subject: PM2.5
Subject: hospital admissions
Subject: ambulatory visits
Subject: time series analysis
Subject: lag effects
Year: 2022
Type: Article
Title: Air Pollution in Kosovo: Short Term Effects on Hospital Visits of Children Due to Respiratory Health Diagnoses
Author: Shabani Isenaj Zana
Author: Berisha Merita
Author: Gorgjev Dragan
Author: Dimovska Mirjana
Author: Moshammer Hanns
Author: Ukëhaxhaj Antigona
Abstract: The Republic of Kosovo is a small country in the Balkans. The capital city of Pristina hosts most of its population and is situated in a mountain basin with poor air exchange, especially during winter. Domestic heating, road transport, industry and coal-fired power plants contribute to high levels of air pollution. We performed a time-series analysis on effects of particulate air pollution (PM2.5) on respiratory health of children and adolescents, using hospital admission and ambulatory visit numbers from the pediatric university clinic. From 2018 until 2020, daily mean concentrations of PM2.5 ranged between 2.41 and 161.03 µg/m³. On average, there were 6.7 ambulatory visits per day with lower numbers on weekends and during the first COVID-19 wave in 2020. An increase in PM2.5 led to an immediate increase in visit numbers that lasted over several days. Averaged over a full week, this amounted to about a 1% increase per 10 µg/m³. There were, on average, 1.7 hospital admissions per day. Two and three days after a rise in air pollution, there was also a rise in admission numbers, followed by a decline during the consecutive days. This might indicate that the wards were overstressed because of high admission numbers and restricted additional admissions.
Publisher: MDI
Relation: HERAS plus (Higher Education, Research and Applied Science plus), grant number K-02-2021.
Identifier: oai:repository.ukim.mk:20.500.12188/28625
Identifier: Shabani Isenaj, Z.; Berisha, M.; Gjorgjev, D.; Dimovska, M.; Moshammer, H.; Ukëhaxhaj, A. Air Pollution in Kosovo: Short Term Effects on Hospital Visits of Children Due to Respiratory Health Diagnoses. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(16), 10141.
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12188/28625Identifier: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191610141
