TY  - JOUR
AU  - Huang, Ching-Chang
AU  - Chen, Ying-Hsien
AU  - Hung, Chi-Sheng
AU  - Lee, Jen-Kuang
AU  - Hsu, Tse-Pin
AU  - Wu, Hui-Wen
AU  - Chuang, Pao-Yu
AU  - Chen, Ming-Fong
AU  - Ho, Yi-Lwun
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/6/8
TI  - The Association Between Short-term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution and Patient-Level Home Blood Pressure Among Patients With Chronic Cardiovascular Diseases in a Web-Based Synchronous Telehealth Care Program: Retrospective Study
JO  - JMIR Public Health Surveill
SP  - e26605
VL  - 7
IS  - 6
KW  - ambient air pollution
KW  - blood pressure
KW  - cardiovascular disease
KW  - chronic disease
KW  - climate
KW  - home blood pressure
KW  - particulate matter
KW  - pollution
KW  - remote monitoring
KW  - telehealth care
KW  - telemonitoring
KW  - weather
AB  - Background: The association between short-term exposure to ambient air pollution and blood pressure has been inconsistent, as reported in the literature. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between short-term ambient air pollution exposure and patient-level home blood pressure (HBP). Methods: Patients with chronic cardiovascular diseases from a telehealth care program at a university-affiliated hospital were enrolled as the study population. HBP was measured by patients or their caregivers. Hourly meteorological data (including temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and rainfall) and ambient air pollution monitoring data (including CO, NO2, particulate matter with a diameter of <10 µm, particulate matter with a diameter of <2.5 µm, and SO2) during the same time period were obtained from the Central Weather Bureau and the Environmental Protection Administration in Taiwan, respectively. A stepwise multivariate repeated generalized estimating equation model was used to assess the significant factors for predicting systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP). Results: A total of 253 patients and 110,715 HBP measurements were evaluated in this study. On multivariate analysis, demographic, clinical, meteorological factors, and air pollutants significantly affected the HBP (both SBP and DBP). All 5 air pollutants evaluated in this study showed a significant, nonlinear association with both home SBP and DBP. Compared with demographic and clinical factors, environmental factors (meteorological factors and air pollutants) played a minor yet significant role in the regulation of HBP. Conclusions: Short-term exposure to ambient air pollution significantly affects HBP in patients with chronic cardiovascular disease. 
SN  - 2369-2960
UR  - https://publichealth.jmir.org/2021/6/e26605
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/26605
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34100764
DO  - 10.2196/26605
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/26605
ER  -