International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020.17, 0-0, DOI: https://doi.org/doi: 10.3390/ijerph17082841

Association between Post-Diagnosis Particulate Matter Exposure among 5-Year Cancer Survivors and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Three Metropolitan Areas from South Korea

Seulggie Choi, Kyuwoong Kim; Jooyoung Chang; Sung Min Kim; Seong Rae Kim; Yoosun Cho; Gyeongsil Lee; Joung Sik Son; Sang Min Park

Abstract

Cancer survivors are at an increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, the association between particulate matter (PM) and CVD risk among cancer survivors (alive >5 years since diagnosis) is unclear. We investigated the risk of CVD among 40,899 cancer survivors within the Korean National Health Insurance Service database. Exposure to PM was determined by assessing yearly average PM levels obtained from the Air Korea database from 2008 to 2011. PMs with sizes <2.5 (PM2.5), <10 (PM10), or 2.5-10 (PM2.5-10) μm in diameter were compared, with each PM level exposure further divided into quintiles. Patients were followed up from January 2012 to date of CVD event, death, or December 2017, whichever came earliest. Adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for CVD were calculated using Cox proportional hazards regression by PM exposure levels. Compared with cancer survivors in the lowest quintile of PM2.5 exposure, those within the highest quintile had a greater risk for CVD (aHR 1.31, 95% CI 1.07-1.59). Conversely, increasing PM10 and PM2.5-10 levels were not associated with increased CVD risk (p for trend 0.078 and 0.361, respectively). Cancer survivors who reduce PM2.5 exposure may benefit from lower risk of developing CVD.

• DOI: https://doi.org/doi: 10.3390/ijerph17082841
• ISBN or ISSN: 1660-4601

• 본 연구는 질병관리본부 연구개발과제연구비를 지원받아 수행되었습니다.
• This research was supported by a fund by Research of Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.