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  • Title: Air pollution and daily emergency department visits for headache in Montreal, Canada.
    Author: Szyszkowicz M.
    Journal: Headache; 2008 Mar; 48(3):417-23. PubMed ID: 18302702.
    Abstract:
    BACKGROUND: Many studies have indicated that weather can trigger headache. Here we propose a new methodological approach to assess the relationship between weather, ambient air pollution, and emergency department (ED) visits for this condition. OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations between ED visits for headache and selected meteorological and air pollution factors. DESIGN AND METHODS: A hierarchical clusters design was used to study 10,497 ED visits for headache (ICD-9: 784) that occurred at a Montreal hospital between 1997 and 2002. The generalized linear mixed models technique was applied to create Poisson models for the clustered counts of visits for headache. RESULTS: Statistically significant positive associations were observed between the number of ED visits for headache and the atmospheric pressure for all and for female visits for 1-day and 2-day lagged exposures. The percentage increase in daily ED female visits was 4.1% (95% CI: 2.0, 6.2), 3.4% (95% CI: 1.4, 5.6), and 2.2% (95% CI: 1.4, 5.6) for current day, 1-day and 2-day lagged exposure to SO(2), respectively, for an increase of an interquartile range (IQR) of 2.4 ppb. The percentage increase was also statistically significant for current day and 1-day lagged exposure to NO(2) and CO for all and for female visits. CONCLUSIONS: Presented findings provide support for the hypothesis that ED visits for headache are correlated to weather conditions and ambient air pollution - to atmospheric pressure and exposure to SO(2), NO(2), CO, and PM(2.5). An increase in levels of these factors is associated with an increase in the number of ED visits for headache.
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