Associação entre poluição do ar e morbimortalidade por doenças cardiorespiratórias no Município de Volta Redonda, RJ, Brasil

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of air pollution on respiratory and cardiovascular diseases of the inhabitants of Volta Redonda City, from January 2002 to December 2006. Two epidemiological designs were adopted, a study of time series and other geoprocessing using daily data on deaths and hospital admissions for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases (ICD-10 J00-J99 and I00-I99) for the total population, to children and the elderly. Deaths have also suffered respiratory stratification by sex. Daily levels of PM10, SO2 and O3, minimum temperature and relative humidity were also analyzed. Generalized Additive Models (GAM) was fitted to Poisson regression analysis of time series. Spatial analysis of deaths was used to estimate the kernel for the interpolation of outcomes. The results showed a positive association between pollutants and most outcomes, particularly with respect to PM10. SO2 had the highest percentage of risk, while the O3 alone was significantly associated with increased deaths from respiratory diseases in elderly men. The area of highest mortality is located south of the CSN. The present study showed distinct patterns on the trend, magnitude of effect and time lag exposure by gender. These results reinforce the need for additional studies, focusing on effect modification of air pollution on human health, considering the gender as susceptibility factor, especially in the elderly. The distribution and spatial analysis showed that the models should make up for the evaluation of association, considering the stratification by age and gender.