The Effect of Air Pollution on Respiratory System Disease Admissions and Health Expenditures

Objectives: Air pollution increases hospital admissions due to respiratory system diseases. This study aims to investi-gate health expenditures due to hospital admissions in Erzincan, Turkey.Methods: We acquired data on daily admissions of patients with respiratory system diseases from 2015 to 2016 in Erzincan from Mengücek Gazi Education and Research Hospital (MGERH). Concurrent air quality monitoring data were obtained from the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, and meteorological data from General Directorate of Meteorology. Risk analyses were performed via the STATA® program, followed analyses of health expenditures based on patient treatment costs obtained from the Social Security Institution.Results: In Erzincan, a total of 78.793 patients (56.5% female, 43.5% male) presented to the emergency service and clinical departments of MGERH with respiratory complaints. The highest frequency diagnosis was upper respiratory system infections and most patients fell into the age groups of 15-34 and 45-64. A correlation was obtained between the amount of particulate matter 10 μm and smaller, one of the air quality parameters monitored in Erzincan.Conclusion: Increases in air pollution levels similarly increase the number of hospital admissions secondary to respira-tory system diseases by 0.72%. According to Social Security Institution data, average per capita health expenditures related to these admissions were 44.338.98 USD.