Short-term and long-term exposure to PM10 was associated with the incidence of childhood glaucoma. - GreenMedInfo Summary

PURPOSE: To investigate whether exposure to air pollution, particularly to particles with a mass median aerodynamic diameter of≤10 μm (PM), is associated with diagnosis of childhood glaucoma.

DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study METHODS: From the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort, a total of 9,004 infants born between January 2002 and December 2002 were included and followed-up for an 11-year period (2003-2012). Patients with glaucoma were defined as ICD-10 code H40. Exposure levels of PMwere extrapolated using geographic information systems, and individual exposure levels assigned.

RESULTS: During the study period, glaucoma occurred in 85 (0.94%). The probability of developing childhood glaucoma increased with the increase in PMquartiles. Increases in 1μg/mof long-term PMwere significantly associated with increased HRs for childhood glaucoma (HR = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.15-1.28). Compared the risk of the lowest PMexposure group (Quartile 1), the adjusted HRs for childhood glaucoma were significant in the highest PMexposure group of Quartile 4 (HR = 2.84; 95% CI, 1.37-5.89) in model 3. Regarding the long-term PMexposure, the estimated hazard was considerably elevated in Quartile 4 (HR = 6.61; 95% CI, 2.96-14.75).

CONCLUSIONS: Short-term and long-term exposure to PMwas associated with the incidence of childhood glaucoma. This finding confirms previous reports on the link between air pollution and ocular disease and suggests that PMexposure may be a risk for childhood glaucoma.