Global Associations of Air Pollution and Conjunctivitis Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

(1) Background: As the most common eye disease diagnosed in emergency departments, conjunctivitis has caused serious health and economic burdens worldwide. However, whether air pollution may be a risk factor for conjunctivitis is still inconsistent among current evidence. (2) Methods: We searched th...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Renchao Chen, Jun Yang, Chunlin Zhang, Bixia Li, Stéphanie Bergmann, Fangfang Zeng, Hao Wang, Boguang Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-09-01
Series:International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/19/3652
Description
Summary:(1) Background: As the most common eye disease diagnosed in emergency departments, conjunctivitis has caused serious health and economic burdens worldwide. However, whether air pollution may be a risk factor for conjunctivitis is still inconsistent among current evidence. (2) Methods: We searched the literature on the relationship between air pollution and conjunctivitis in multiple English databases before 18 March 2019. Meta-analysis, meta-regression, and funnel plots were used to integrate the data, identify the sources of bias, and determine the publication bias, respectively. (3) Results: A total of 2450 papers were found, 12 of which were finally included. The pooled relative risk for each 10 &#956;g/m<sup>3</sup> increase of air pollution on conjunctivitis was 1.0006 (95%CI: 0.9993&#8722;1.0019) for CO, 1.0287 (1.0120&#8722;1.0457) for NO<sub>2</sub>, 1.0089 (1.0030&#8722;1.0149) for O<sub>3</sub>, 1.0004 (0.9976&#8722;1.0032) for PM<sub>2.5</sub>, 1.0033 (0.9982&#8722;1.0083) for PM<sub>10</sub>, and 1.0045 (0.9908&#8722;1.0185) for SO<sub>2</sub>. In the subgroup, PM<sub>2.5</sub> and O<sub>3</sub> had a greater impact on conjunctivitis risk in women than in men, and people &lt;18 years old than those &#8805;18 years old. Relative humidity significantly modified the risk of O<sub>3</sub> on conjunctivitis (<i>p</i> = 0.023), explaining 45% of the between-study heterogeneity. (4) Conclusion: Globally, air pollution has considerable health risks for conjunctivitis. Females and the youth were more vulnerable to PM<sub>2.5</sub>, NO<sub>2</sub>, and O<sub>3</sub>. Reductions of air pollution levels are still warranted to protect the vulnerable populations.
ISSN:1660-4601