The impact of air pollution on hospital admission for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in an oil and gas-rich country.

OBJECTIVES: Aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of air pollution on hospital admissions for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in an oil rich developing country, State of Qatar. METHODS: A prospective cohort population based study was conducted at different stations of Qatar during the period (2002-2005) for recording the concentration of air pollutants daily for sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3) and particulate matter (PM10). Hospital admission data were collected from the inpatient discharge database of the Medical Records Department, Hamad General Hospital. RESULTS: An average of 5.36 admissions from ischemic heart diseases was counted daily in all the population which was even higher than the respiratory diseases (3.4/day). Minimum temperature was inversely correlated with all pollutants except for O3 and SO2. CONCLUSION: There was an association between increasing air pollutant levels and patients admitted for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.