IMPACT OF AIR POLLUTION WITH PM10 ON PRIMARY HEALTH CARE CONSULTATIONS FOR RESPIRATORY DISEASES IN CHILDREN IN ZASAVJE, SLOVENIA: A TIME-TREND STUDY

Aim: The aim of our study was to assess the temporal association between the number of consultations in the primary health care unit due to respiratory diseases in children and the level of particular matter of 10 micrometres in diameter (PM10) pollution in the Zasavje region. Methods: A time-trend ecological study was carried out for the period between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2011. The daily number of first consultations for respiratory diseases among children in the Zasavje region was observed as the outcome. Poisson regression analysis was used to investigate the association between the observed outcome and the daily PM10 concentrations, adjusted to other covariates. Results: The results showed that the daily number of first consultations were highly significantly associated with the daily concentrations of PM10 in the Zagorje (p<0.001) and Trbovlje (p<0.001) municipalities. In the Hrastnik municipality, a significant association was not observed in all models. Conclusions: It can be concluded that evidence of association between the daily PM10 concentration and the daily number of first consultations for respiratory diseases among children exists, indicating that there is still a need for public health activities in the sense of reduction of harmful environmental factors in the region. Additionally, on the basis of these results, it can be assumed that with some improvements linkage of existing health and environmental data in Slovenia in general could be feasible in identifying a grounded need for future public health action.