Background: Atrial fibrillation is the most common sustained arrhythmia and is associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The few studies conducted on short-term effects of air pollution on episodes of atrial fibrillation indicate a positive association, though not consistently.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term impact of traffic-related air pollution on incidence of atrial fibrillation in the general population.
Methods: In the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health cohort of 57,053 people 50鈥?4 years old at enrollment in 1993鈥?997, we identified 2,700 cases of first-ever hospital admission for atrial fibrillation from enrollment to end of follow-up in 2011. For all cohort members, exposure to traffic-related air pollution assessed as nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) was estimated at all present and past residential addresses from 1984 to 2011 using a validated dispersion model. We used Cox proportional hazard model to estimate associations between long-term residential exposure to NO2 and NOx and risk of atrial fibrillation, after adjusting for lifestyle and socioeconomic position.
Results: A 10 渭g/m3 higher 10-year time-weighted mean exposure to NO2 preceding diagnosis was associated with an 8% higher risk of atrial fibrillation [incidence rate ratio: 1.08; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01, 1.14] in adjusted analysis. Though weaker, similar results were obtained for long-term residential exposure to NOx. We found no clear tendencies regarding effect modification of the association between NO2 and atrial fibrillation by sex, smoking, hypertension or myocardial infarction.
Conclusion: We found long-term residential traffic-related air pollution to be associated with higher risk of atrial fibrillation. Accordingly, the present findings lend further support to the demand for abatement of air pollution.
1Diet, Genes and Environment, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark; 2Department of Cardiology, Copenhagen University Hospital of Bispebjerg, Bispebjerg, Denmark; 3Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark; 4Section of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; 5Section of Environmental Health, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Recommended Citation:
Maria Monrad,1 Ahmad Sajadieh,2 Jeppe Schultz Christensen,et al. Long-Term Exposure to Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Risk of Incident Atrial Fibrillation: A Cohort Study[J]. Environmental Health Perspectives,2017-01-01,Volume 125(Issue 3):422