The association between air pollution and the daily number of deaths: Findings from the Slovak Republic contribution to the APHEA project

Study objective - To analyse the short term relation between daily air pollutant values and the daily number of deaths in Bratislava, Slovak Republic, during the study period 1987-91. Design - This follows the APHEA protocol. The association between the daily number of total and cause specific deaths and daily variations in ambient air levels of sulphur dioxide (SO2) and total suspended particulates (TSP) were analysed using Poisson regression that allowed control for meterological data and variables that handle temporal and autoregressive patterns. Setting - Bratislava is the capital town of Slovakia, the total population was 442 999 according to 1991 census data. The dominant sources of industrial air pollution are the chemical industry and oil refinery. Main results and conclusions - After adjustment for season, temperature and relative humidity, days of week and holidays, secular trends, and autoregressive patterns no significant associations were found between the daily variations in the air pollutants, SO2-24 h and TSP-24 h, and total mortality (RR 0.978, 95% CI 0.96, 0.99; RR 1.008, 95% CI 0.96, 0.99) and cause specific mortality in Bratislava during the study period.