Sex-specific associations between air pollutants and asthma prevalence in Japanese adults: a population-based study

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the association between air pollutants and asthma prevalence in male and female Japanese adults. In this retrospective cross-sectional analysis, annual mean exposure levels of air pollutants, specifically nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter with a median aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5), were assessed at a local monitoring site. Multivariable logistic regression models, adjusted for genetic and/or lifestyle factors, were used to explore the association between air pollutants and asthma, with stratification by sex. A total of 1,497 participants aged ≥40 years were included. Their mean age was 65.9 ± 12.4 years, with 847 being women. Overall, 91 participants were diagnosed with asthma. In the multivariable model, ambient exposure levels of NO2 and PM2.5 were significantly associated with asthma in women but not in men. This study highlights sex as a significant determinant of the link between air pollutants and asthma exacerbation, particularly among female Japanese adults.

KEYWORDS:

• Asthma
• nitrogen dioxide
• particulate matter
• sex
• genetic risk score

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the staff of the Health and Welfare Center of Shika town and the staff of the Department of Hygiene and Public Health, Kanazawa University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Human ethics approval declaration

The Shika study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee at Kanazawa University (approval number 1,491). Informed consent was obtained from all study participants.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09603123.2024.2352597.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), number [19H03882], and Kanazawa University “SANTO” project for promotion of research.The IUF is funded by the federal and state governments - the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia (MKW) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).