Abstract:

Objective To analyze the impact of air pollutants SO₂，NO₂，inhalable particulate matter（PM₁₀），CO，O₃，and fine particulate matter（PM_2.5） on the outpatient volume of children in Bayannur from 2020 to 2022. Methods The daily outpatient volume of children and air pollutant monitoring data of Bayannur from 2020 to 2022 were collected. The spearman correlation analysis method was used to analyze the correlation between air pollutants and children's outpatient volume. A generalized additive model（GAM） was established by using time series analysis to quantitatively evaluate the impact of air pollutants on children's outpatient volume in Bayannur. Results The main air pollutants in Bayannur were PM₁₀，O₃，and PM_2.5，with over-standard rates of 1.6%，0.3%，and 2.5%，respectively，and the incidence of pollutants were 44.02%，29.04% and 7.12%，respectively. Except for O₃，the concentration of pollutants during heating season were higher than those during non-heating season，and the days of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 exceeding the standard were all concentrated in the heating season.There were strong positive correlations between the concentration values of pollutants PM₁₀，SO₂，NO₂，CO，and PM_2.5（all P<0.01），and there were strong negative correlations between these five pollutants and O₃（all P<0.01）. The total outpatient volume of children and respiratory system outpatient volume in Bayannur from 2020 to 2022 showed strong positive correlations with pollutants PM_2.5 and PM₁₀（all P<0.01）. The cumulative lag effect of PM_2.5 was greater than the single day lag effect. In the case of single day lag，the maximum value occurred at lag0，and the total outpatient volume of children and respiratory system outpatient volume were 0.06%（95%CI：0.03%-0.09%） and 0.06%（95%CI：0.02%-0.10%），respectively. In the case of cumulative lag，for every 10 μg/m³ increase in PM_2.5，the risk was highest in children's general clinic and respiratory system clinic with a 5-day lag，with an increase of 0.12%（95%CI：0.06%-0.18%） and 0.12%（95%CI：0.04%-0.19%），respectively. Conclusion The total outpatient volume and respiratory system outpatient volume of children in Bayannur were affected by PM_2.5，and PM_2.5 had the greatest impact on outpatient volume when the accumulation lag was five days. This provides effective reference for establishing a prediction and early warning mechanism for regional pollutants and health effects，as well as developing intervention measures.

Key words: Air pollutants, Outpatient volume, Respiratory system