The Effect of Short-Term Air Pollutants Exposure on Daily Mortality Among Elderly Individuals in China: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

To systematically review the literature regarding the effect of air pollutants on the excess mortality risk among the elderly Chinese. PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science (WOS), and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) electronic databases were searched. A standardized data extraction form was used to collect methodological and outcome variables from each eligible study. The effect value was combined with a fixed- or random-effect model, and sensitivity analysis and publication bias test were performed. A total of 26 articles on air pollutants and excess risk (ER) of mortality in the Chinese elderly were identified. Among them, 16, 14, 8, and 8 articles contained PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and NO2 data, respectively. The meta-analysis results showed that the excess risk of mortality in the Chinese elderly associated with per 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and NO2 concentrations was 1.01%, 0.54%, 1.06%and 1.35%, respectively. Sufficient evidence supports that the increase in air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and NO2) will escalate the mortality of the elderly in China. Future research can study two or more air pollution models and the impact of air pollution on elderly mortality rates under different temperatures, duration of exposure, seasons and regions.