Systematic reviews and metaanalyses of air pollution epidemiological studies

2020 ◽  
pp. 183-205
Author(s):  
Juleen Lam ◽  
Hanna M. Vesterinen ◽  
Tracey J. Woodruff
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Epidemiological Studies

AWARENESS ABOUT INDOOR AIR POLLUTION IN GENERAL POPULATION OF RAWALPINDI AND ISLAMABAD

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-83
Author(s):  
Nadia Tariq ◽  
Tamkeen Jaffry ◽  
Rahma Fiaz ◽  
Abdul Majid Rajput ◽  
Sadaf Khalid
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
General Population ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Indoor Air Pollution ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Educational Status ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Significant Difference

Background: Indoor air pollutants are increasingly being associated with respiratory illnesses leading to high degree of morbidity and mortality. There are not sufficient epidemiological studies from Pakistan which assess level of awareness of indoor air pollution resulting in respiratory diseases in population. Methods: This cross sectional survey was carried out on general population of Rawalpindi/Islamabad. Sample size was 223 study subjects selected by non-probability convenient sampling. Knowledge of the study subjects was determined with regard to indoor air pollution, its effects on health and different sources of indoor air pollution with the help of a questionnaire. The influence of age, gender, educational status and socio economic status on the level of awareness was also analyzed. Results: Out of total 223 participants, 115 were males and108 females. Participants aware of indoor air pollution were 91.5% and adequate awareness about its sources was 80.7%. Those who knew indoor air pollution is detrimental to health were 95.1%. Awareness about building construction dust as source of indoor air pollution was maximum (84.8%). There was significant difference in awareness among participants with different monthly incomes and educational status and also between males and females. Conclusion: This study concludes that general population of Rawalpindi/Islamabad has fairly good awareness about sources of indoor air pollution. Use of harmful material causing indoor air pollution should be limited or substituted with better ones where possible.

scholarly journals Polyphenols and Cognition In Humans: An Overview of Current Evidence from Recent Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Daniel Joseph Lamport ◽  
Claire Michelle Williams
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Cognitive Outcome ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Duration Of Treatment ◽  
Current Evidence Base ◽  
Cognitive Benefits ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
The Impact

There is increasing interest in the impact of dietary influences on the brain throughout the lifespan, ranging from improving cognitive development in children through to attenuating ageing related cognitive decline and reducing risk of neurodegenerative diseases. Polyphenols, phytochemicals naturally present in a host of fruits, vegetables, tea, cocoa and other foods, have received particular attention in this regard, and there is now a substantial body of evidence from experimental and epidemiological studies examining whether their consumption is associated with cognitive benefits. The purpose of this overview is to synthesise and evaluate the best available evidence from two sources, namely meta-analyses and systematic reviews, in order to give an accurate reflection of the current evidence base for an association between polyphenols and cognitive benefits. Four meta-analyses and thirteen systematic reviews published between 2017–2020 were included, and were categorised according to whether they reviewed specific polyphenol-rich foods and classes or all polyphenols. A requirement for inclusion was assessment of a behavioural cognitive outcome in humans. A clear and consistent theme emerged that whilst there is support for an association between polyphenol consumption and cognitive benefits, this conclusion is tentative, and by no means definitive. Considerable methodological heterogeneity was repeatedly highlighted as problematic such that the current evidence base does not support reliable conclusions relating to efficacy of specific doses, duration of treatment, or sensitivity in specific populations or certain cognitive domains. The complexity of multiple interactions between a range of direct and indirect mechanisms of action is discussed. Further research is required to strengthen the reliability of the evidence base.

scholarly journals Socioeconomic inequalities and exposure to traffic-related air pollution in the city of São Paulo, Brazil

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mateus Habermann ◽  
Míriam Souza ◽  
Rogério Prado ◽  
Nelson Gouveia
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Sao Paulo ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Traffic Density ◽  
São Paulo ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City

Air pollution is a leading public health concern. In addition, poor populations have been reported as showing increased exposure to such pollution. The current study thus aimed to evaluate the socioeconomic status of the population exposed to vehicle-related air pollution in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The study used data from the 2010 Census on head-of-household’s mean monthly income and the percentage of households connected to the sewage system. Exposure to air pollutants was estimated according to traffic density in the census tract plus a 200m surrounding buffer. The relationship between exposure and socioeconomic variables was analyzed by the Kruskal-Wallis test. Exposure increased with increasing socioeconomic status (p < 0.001). The population with the highest socioeconomic status lives in the most polluted areas of the city. However, place of residence alone is not capable of measuring exposure. The study suggests that future epidemiological studies include other indicators of vulnerability.

scholarly journals Spatial air pollution modelling for a West-African town

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sirak Zenebe Gebreab ◽  
Danielle Vienneau ◽  
Christian Feigenwinter ◽  
Hampâté Bâ ◽  
Guéladio Cissé ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
West African ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Air Pollution Modelling ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
Leave One Out

<p>Land use regression (LUR) modelling is a common approach used in European and Northern American epidemiological studies to assess urban and traffic related air pollution exposures. Studies applying LUR in Africa are lacking. A need exists to understand if this approach holds for an African setting, where urban features, pollutant exposures and data availability differ considerably from other continents. We developed a parsimonious regression model based on 48-hour nitrogen dioxide (NO<sub>2</sub>) concentrations measured at 40 sites in Kaédi, a medium sized West-African town, and variables generated in a geographic information system (GIS). Road variables and settlement land use characteristics were found to be important predictors of 48-hour NO<sub>2</sub> concentration in the model. About 68% of concentration variability in the town was explained by the model. The model was internally validated by leave-one-out cross-validation and it was found to perform moderately well. Furthermore, its parameters were robust to sampling variation. We applied the model at 100 m pixels to create a map describing the broad spatial pattern of NO<sub>2</sub> across Kaédi. In this research, we demonstrated the potential for LUR as a valid, cost-effective approach for air pollution modelling and mapping in an African town. If the methodology were to be adopted by environmental and public health authorities in these regions, it could provide a quick assessment of the local air pollution burden and potentially support air pollution policies and guidelines.</p>

scholarly journals A systematic literature review and critical appraisal of epidemiological studies on outdoor air pollution and tuberculosis outcomes

2019 ◽  
Vol 170 ◽  
pp. 33-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor Popovic ◽  
Ricardo J. Soares Magalhaes ◽  
Erjia Ge ◽  
Guy B. Marks ◽  
Guang-Hui Dong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Critical Appraisal ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Outdoor Air ◽  
Outdoor Air Pollution

scholarly journals Air pollution as a contributing factor of relapses and cases of multiplesclerosis

2020 ◽  
pp. 169-175
Author(s):  
C. Zhukovsky ◽  
◽  
M.-A. Bind ◽  
I. Boström ◽  
A.-M. Landtblom ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Null Hypothesis ◽  
Personal Exposure ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Pollution Monitoring ◽  
Inflammatory Factors ◽  
Common Denominator ◽  
Engine Exhaust ◽  
Air Pollution Monitoring ◽  
Study Participants

The role of air pollution exposure in multiple sclerosis (MS) incidence and relapse worldwide has not yielded a consensus; some studies have reported positive associations, which have failed to reject the null hypothesis. Potential reasons for these contradictory results can in part be explained by differences in study designs and their associated limitations. Of note, rat and canine studies in 2010 and 2013, respectively, have shown that expression of HO-1 enzyme and inflammatory factors increased due to PM10 and diesel engine exhaust (DEE) exposure. Of the eight non-null epidemiological studies scrutinized, the majority included a retrospective study design with air pollution monitoring data, which may be an advantage due to large number of study participants and a disadvantage with possible air pollution measurement error for personal exposure. The studies included analyses of PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, NOx and/or O3 with PM10 as the common denominator between all of them. Studies from 2003, 2014–2019 from Finland, France, Iran, Italy, and Serbia all provide evidence of an association between PM10 and incidence or relapse of MS. Though one 2018 study likewise described associations between exposures to NO2, O3, and PM10 and MS relapses using a case-crossover design, the multi-pollutant model only associated O3. Of the epidemiological studies that fail to reject the null hypothesis, there was no evidence of an association between PM10 exposure and MS relapse or incidence. Though air pollution has not been conclusively proven to be a cause of MS, evidence from multiple studies have associated incidence and relapse with exposure to pollutants, particularly PM10.

scholarly journals Fuzzy logic in air pollution: Revisited

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
A. Deshpande
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Fuzzy Logic ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Epistemic Uncertainty ◽  
Similarity Measures ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Fuzzy Similarity ◽  
Parametric Data ◽  
Numeric Data ◽  
Pollution Exposure

In everyday life and field, people mostly deal with concepts that involve factors that defy classification into crisp sets. The decisions people usually make are perceptions without rigorous analysis of numeric data. Like in other field of studies, there may exist imprecision in air quality parametric data collected and in the perception made by air quality experts in defining these parameters in linguistic terms such as: very good, good, poor. This is the reason why over the past few decades, soft computing tools such as fuzzy logic based methods, neural networks, and genetic algorithms have had significant and growing impacts to deal with aleatory as well as epistemic uncertainty in air quality related issues. This paper has highlighted mathematical preliminaries of air pollution studies like Similarity Measures (Cosine Amplitude Method), Fuzzy to Crisp Conversion (Alpha cut method), Fuzzy c Mean Clustering, Zadeh-Deshpande (ZD) Approach and linguistic description of air quality. Similarly, the applications of fuzzy similarity measures and fuzzy c mean clustering with defined possibility (- cut) levels in case air pollution studies for Delhi, India have been reflected. Though the approach of using fuzzy logic in pollution studies are not of common practice, the comprehensive approach that involves air pollution exposure surveys, toxicological data, and epidemiological studies coupled with fuzzy modeling will go a long way toward resolving some of the divisiveness and controversy in the current regulatory paradigm.

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