Satellite-based Estimates of Ambient Air Pollution and Global Variations in Childhood Asthma Prevalence

Anderson, H.R.
Butland, B.K.
van Donkelaar, A.
Brauer, M.
Strachan, D.P.
Clayton, T.
van Dingenen, R.
Amann, M.
Brunekreef, B.
Cohen, A.
Dentener, F.
Lai, C.
Lamsal, L.N.
Martin, R.V.
One, I.P.

Publication date

January 2012

Abstract

Background: The effect of ambient air pollution on global variations and trends in asthma prevalence is unclear.Objectives: Our goal was to investigate community-level associations between asthma prevalence data from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) and satellite-based estimates of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <2.5 µm (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and modelled estimates of ozone.Methods: We assigned satellite-based estimates of PM2.5 and NO2 at a spatial resolution of 0.1° × 0.1° and modeled estimates of ozone at a resolution of 1° × 1° to 183 ISAAC centers. We used center-level prevalence of severe asthma as the outcome and multilevel models to adjust for gross national income (GNI)...