Pol Arch Intern Med. 2025 Jul 4:17064. doi: 10.20452/pamw.17064. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death worldwide. Recently, attention has expanded beyond traditional risk factors to include non-classical ones like light pollution.
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the impact of light pollution exposure on hospitalizations due to cardiovascular diseases.
METHODS: Data from 2012-2020 on light and air pollution were obtained from Suomi NPP satellite, Copernicus System, and local monitoring stations. Hospitalization data for new onset cases of STEMI, NSTEMI, atrial fibrillation, and ischemic strokes (based on ICD10 codes) were obtained from the Polish National Health Fund. The analysis covered 101 counties in five Eastern Poland voivodships, using sex- and age-standardized incidence rates and panel Poisson regression models. Confounding variables included air pollution, socioeconomic status, and meteorological factors.
RESULTS: During the study, 55.081 STEMI (64.6% men, mean age 67), 69.112 NSTEMI (60.9% men, mean age 70), 228.410 atrial fibrillation (52.7% women, mean age 70), and 131.085 ischemic stroke (51.6% women, mean age 74) hospitalizations was included. Light pollution intensity was calculated as an area-weighted county-level yearly average. An interquartile range increase (2479.42 nW/cm²/sr) in light pollution was linked to a 7% rise in odds of acute ischemic stroke hospitalizations (OR=1.07, 95% CI 1.05-1.10) and a 15% rise for acute atrial fibrillation hospitalizations (OR=1.15, 95% CI 1.13-1.17) in models with the highest number of confounding variables included. Statistical significance for STEMI and NSTEMI was found in some models.
CONCLUSIONS: Prolonged light pollution exposure may increase the odds of cardiovascular hospitalizations, especially from ischemic stroke or atrial fibrillation.
PMID:40614058 | DOI:10.20452/pamw.17064