Individual Risk Factors associated with PM2.5 mortality in Chinese older adults

Air pollution has significantly impacted Chinas economy and public health. Over the past few years, there has been numerous research conducted to investigate the relationship between air pollution and the mortality of the Chinese elderly. However, little research has investigated the factors(disease etc.) related to air pollution in the elderly population. This study aims to find out which factors under the impact of PM2.5 contribute to the resilience of the elderly. In the China Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS), 11,999 participants(Average 87.1) with follow-up from 2000 to 2018 were analyzed with a time-varying cox model, exploring whether PM2.5 has an effect on the relationship between mortality of the elderly and the elderlys status, including ADL, smoking, age, sex, chronic respiratory, stroke or CVD, hypertension, diabetes. Rises of 10 g/m in PM2.5 were associated with increases in all-cause mortality of 0.54% (95% confidence interval [CI]:0.380.69%). In stratified analyses, elderly people diagnosed with diabetes (HR = 1.0131, 95% CI:1.0016 ~ 1.0248) and hypertension (HR = 1.007, 95% CI:1.003 ~ 1.011) were more vulnerable to PM2.5 exposure. Contrary to our understanding, Older adults with impaired physical function have a reduced risk of PM2.5-related death(HR=1.0107, 95% CI:1.0007~ 1.005).