Roles of the physical environment in health-related quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Moitra, Subhabrata; Foraster Pulido, Maria, 1984-; Arbillaga Etxarri, Ane, 1986-; Marín, Alicia; Barberan-Garcia, Anael; Rodríguez Chiaradia, Diego Agustín; Balcells Vilarnau, Eva, 1967-; Koreny, Maria, 1972-; Torán Montserrat, Pere; Vall Casas, Pere; Rodríguez-Roisin, Robert; García Aymerich, Judith

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2021.111828

Roles of the physical environment in health-related quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Citation

Moitra S, Foraster M, Arbillaga-Etxarri A, Marín A, Barberan-Garcia A, Rodríguez-Chiaradia DA, Balcells E, Koreny M, Torán-Monserrat P, Vall-Casas P, Rodríguez-Roisin R, Garcia-Aymerich J. Roles of the physical environment in health-related quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Environ Res. 2022 Jan;203:111828. DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.111828

Abstract

Rationale: Many clinical and psychological factors are known to influence the health-related quality of life (HRQL) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, research on whether environmental factors, such as air pollution, noise, temperature, and blue/green spaces also influence HRQL in COPD has not been systematically investigated. Objective: To assess the relationship between air pollution, road traffic noise, temperature, and distance to blue/green spaces and respiratory-specific HRQL in COPD. Methods: We used cross-sectional data from a multicenter study in 407 stable mild-to-very severe COPD patients from Barcelona (Catalonia). Patients answered the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) and Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ). Individual residential exposure to air pollutants (nitrogen dioxide [NO2] and particulate matters of varying aerodynamic diameters [PM2.5, PM10, and PM2.5absorbance]), road traffic noise (Lden), and land surface temperature were estimated using long-term averages from land-use regression models, 24-h noise maps, and land surface temperature maps, respectively. We measured residential distances to blue/green spaces from the Urban Atlas. We used mixed-effect negative binomial (for CAT) and linear (for CCQ) regression models, adjusted for potential confounders, with a random effect by center. Results: Of those patients, 85 % were male and had a mean (SD) age of 69 (9) years, CAT score of 12 (7), CCQ-total score of 1.4 (1.0), and post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) of 57 (18) %predicted. We found that NO2 and PM2.5absorbance were associated with worsened CAT and CCQ-mental scores, e.g., 0.15-unit change in CAT score [regression coefficient (β) = 0.15; 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 0.03, 0.26] per interquartile range in NO2 [13.7 μg/m3]. Greater distances to blue/green spaces were associated with worsened CCQ-mental scores [0.08; 0.002, 0.15]. Conclusions: Our study showed that increased air pollution, particularly NO2 and PM2.5absorbance and greater distances to blue/green spaces negatively influence HRQL in COPD patients. These findings have important implications for the WHO promotion to develop healthy cities for our future.