Hospital admission rates for asthma and respiratory disease in the West Midlands: their relationship to air pollution levels.

Abstract

Socioeconomic deprivation, as measured by the Townsend score, is a significant predictor of hospital admission rates for respiratory disease in older individuals, and both the percentage of non-white subjects and the Townsend score are significant predictors of hospital admission rates for asthma in children. After correction for socioeconomic deprivation and ethnicity, background urban NO2 levels in the ward of residence are significantly associated with standardised hospital admission rates for all respiratory disease in children under 5. This may represent a causal effect of NO2 on the respiratory health of children, or the effect of confounding factors not corrected by use of the Townsend score.