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Short-term associations between ambient air pollution and acute atrial fibrillation episodes
Marcus Dahlquist, Viveka Frykman, Katrin Kemp-Gudmunsdottir, Emma Svennberg, Gregory A Wellenius, Petter L S Ljungman. Environment international, 2020-05-08
Topic: Air pollution and environmental exposures
Among 218 participants with 469 AF episodes we observed higher odds of AF following higher 24-hour mean levels of PM10 and O3, reaching statistical significance for PM10 levels averaged over the previous 12-24-hours [OR 1.10 (95%CI 1.01-1.19) per IQR of PM10 (7.8 µg/m3)]. In subgroup analyses, PM2.5 was more strongly associated with AF among participants with hypertension and PM10 and O3 were more strongly associated with AF among participants with diabetes and overweight. These results suggest that in an urban setting with relatively low levels of ambient air pollution, hourly changes in pollutant levels may increase the risk of acute episodes of both asymptomatic and symptomatic AF, especially among people with diabetes, hypertension or overweight.
Key findings
- Among 218 participants with 469 AF episodes we observed higher odds of AF following higher 24-hour mean levels of PM10 and O3, reaching statistical significance for PM10 levels averaged over the previous 12-24-hours [OR 1.10 (95%CI 1.01-1.19) per IQR of PM10 (7.8 µg/m3)].
- In subgroup analyses, PM2.5 was more strongly associated with AF among participants with hypertension and PM10 and O3 were more strongly associated with AF among participants with diabetes and overweight.
- These results suggest that in an urban setting with relatively low levels of ambient air pollution, hourly changes in pollutant levels may increase the risk of acute episodes of both asymptomatic and symptomatic AF, especially among people with diabetes, hypertension or overweight.
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Study details
- Participants218
- Effect sizeOR 1.10 (95%CI 1.01-1.19)
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 54/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 30 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 54 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Environment international) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2020 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 218 participants |
| Effect reported | 3 / 3 | Effect reported with a statistic (interval, p-value, ratio or similar) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 32388273) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 30 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 30 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 54 out of 100. |
| Total | 54 / 100 | — |
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APA 7th
Dahlquist, M., Frykman, V., Kemp-Gudmunsdottir, K., Svennberg, E., Wellenius, G. A., & Ljungman, P. L. S. (2020). Short-term associations between ambient air pollution and acute atrial fibrillation episodes. Environment international. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.105765
Vancouver
Dahlquist M, Frykman V, Kemp-Gudmunsdottir K, Svennberg E, Wellenius GA, Ljungman PLS. Short-term associations between ambient air pollution and acute atrial fibrillation episodes. Environment international. 2020. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2020.105765. PMID: 32388273.
BibTeX
@article{dahlquist2020-32388273,
author = {Dahlquist, Marcus and Frykman, Viveka and Kemp-Gudmunsdottir, Katrin and Svennberg, Emma and Wellenius, Gregory A and Ljungman, Petter L S},
title = {{Short-term associations between ambient air pollution and acute atrial fibrillation episodes}},
journal = {Environment international},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1016/j.envint.2020.105765},
pmid = {32388273},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.105765}
}
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