Association between severity of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis and air Pollution levels in Madrid

Aim: The aimof our study was to assess the relationship between major urban pollutants and the sesverity of the IPF. Material and methods: The probability of presenting severity criteria for the total visits of 32 FPI patients who were in follow-up in our fuzzy interstitial diseases unit from 2011 to the present day was analyzed and related to the values of the main pollutants (CO, NO2, PM2,5, PM10, O3 and SO2) in Madrid in the period mentioned above. Results: A total of 52 patients with an average age of 66±10 years were reviewed at the time of diagnosis, of whom 7 (21.9%) they were women. The average number of days between each visit was 105.10±100.49. Average pollutants in severity episodes (34 episodes; 6.7%), corresponding to 23 (44%) patients were SO2=8,88 ± 0,32 μg/m2, NO2=58,18 ± 0,78 μg/m2, CO=0,40 ± 0,009 mg/m2, O3=41,20 ± 1,29 μg/m2, PM2,5=11,21 ± 0,22 μg/m2 PM10= 21,22 ± 0,49 μg/m2, while the average pollutants associated with episodes that did not have severity criteria were SO2=9,42±0,13 μg/m2, NO2=57,19±0,32 μg/m2, CO=0,40±0,003 mg/m2 O3=41,10±0,53 μg/m2 PM2,5=11,69±0,09 μg/m2 PM10=22,11±0,20 μg/m2. It was subsequently objected that the likelihood of presenting severity criteria was not associated with contamination levels OR SO2= 0,83 (0,61-1,04) (p=0,11), OR CO = 0,92 (0,84-1,16) (p=0,92) OR NO2 = 1,05 (0,96-1,15) (p=0,25), OR PM2,5 = 0,71 (0,50-1,00) ( p=0,06), OR PM10 = 0,88 (0,76-1,02) (p=0,10), OR O3 = 1,00 (0,94-1,05) (p=0,98). Conclusions: There is no evidence to state that pollutants in Madrid are associated with a higher likelihood of developing severity criteria in IPI patients.