Relationship of long-term air pollution exposure with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: an Italian multicentre observational study

BACKGROUND: Recent evidence showed that 50% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be attributable to air pollution. We aimed to investigate the association between long-term air pollution exposure and COPD symptoms/diagnosis in an Italian epidemiological study. METHODS: ) at residential level with a 1 km resolution (period 2013-2015) were obtained by machine learning techniques. The relationship of pollutant exposure and COPD prevalence was assessed by logistic regression models (single pollutant) and principal component logistic regression models (multipollutant) adjusting for sex, age, education level, smoking habits, season of interview, and city-specific climatic index and including a random intercept for cohorts. RESULTS: were less clear. By multipollutant models, OR estimates were lower than those by single pollutant models. CONCLUSIONS: Further evidence about the relationship between air pollution and respiratory effects in Italian adults was provided indicating PM as the main driver.