Acute effect of particulate matter pollution on hospital admissions for stroke among patients with type 2 diabetes in Beijing, China, from 2014 to 2018.

BACKGROUND: The health effect of particulate matter pollution on stroke has been widely examined; however, the effect among patients with comorbid type 2 diabetes (T2D) in developing countries has remained largely unknown.

METHODS: A time-series study was conducted to investigate the short-term effect of fine particulate matter (PM2.5 ) and inhalable particulate matter (PM10 ) on hospital admissions for stroke among patients with T2D in Beijing, China, from 2014 to 2018. An over-dispersed Poisson generalized additive model was employed to adjust for important covariates, such as weather conditions and long-term and seasonal trends.

RESULTS: A total of 159,298 hospital admissions for stroke comorbid with T2D were reported. Approximately linear exposure-response curves were observed for PM2.5 and PM10 in relation to stroke admissions among T2D patients. A 10 μg/m3 increase in the four-day moving average of PM2.5 and PM10 was associated with 0.14% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.05-0.23%) and 0.14% (95% CI: 0.06-0.22%) incremental increases in stroke admissions among T2D patients, respectively. A 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 in the two-day moving average corresponded to a 0.72% (95% CI: 0.02-1.42%) incremental increase in hemorrhagic stroke, and a 10 μg/m3 increase in PM10 in the four-day moving average corresponded to a 0.14% (95% CI: 0.06-0.22%) incremental increase in ischemic stroke.

CONCLUSIONS: High particulate matter might be a risk factor for stroke among patients with T2D. PM2.5 and PM10 have a linear exposure-response relationship with stroke among T2D patients. The study provided evidence of the risk of stroke due to particulate matter pollution among patients with comorbid T2D.