Relación entre contaminación atmosférica y consultas por enfermedades respiratorias en atención primaria de urgencia

Abstract

Relationship between air pollution and respiratory disease consultations in primary emergency care The present investigation inquires the relation between the levels of environmental pollution by air borne particulate matter 2,5 and respiratory-related consultatons according to type of respiratory disease and age of the users who were admitted in the Primary Healthcare Emergency Services in two communes in Chile's Ñuble Region, between 2016 and 2017 through an ecological design. The unit of analysis corresponded to pooled means (averages) of daily consultations for respiratory diseases and concentration of particulate matter 2.5. The statistical methods used were: Anova, statistical test Dickey-Fuller, inferential analysis based on Spearman's correlation and Cross-Correlation. A positive correlation was observed between environmental pollution and consultations related to respiratory diseases recorded the next day and the ninth day after an environmental emergency episode. Since the entry into force of the Atmospheric Prevention and Decontamination Plan, no significant differences have been observed in the concentrations of PM 2.5 between 2016 and 2017. The highest levels of environmental pollution are concentrated between the months of April to September. In conclusion, there is a relation between the levels of environmental pollution by PM 2.5, the number of respiratory diseases consultatons and the age of users.