The Association Between Short-Term Air Pollution Exposure and Post-Adolescent Acne: The Evidence from a Time Series Analysis in Xi’an, China

Li, Xiang; An, Shu-Jie; Liu, Xiao-Ling; Ji, Ai-Ling; Cao, Yi; Xiang, Ying; Ma, Xiang-Yu; Hu, Qin; Yuan, Zhi-Quan; Li, Ya-Fei; Lu, Yuan-Gang; Cai, Tong-Jian

BACKGROUND: Post-adolescent acne is a common skin disease faced by adults. However, whether air pollution (AP) serves as a risk factor for post-adolescent acne remains elusive. AIM: To determine the relationship between short-term AP exposure (within 7 days) and outpatient visits for post-adolescent acne. METHODS: Daily outpatient visit data for post-adolescent acne and routinely AP data between 2010 and 2013 were collected from Xi’an, China. A generalized additive regression model was used to analyze the relationship between outpatient visits for post-adolescent acne and short-term ambient AP exposure. The gender-specific analyses were conducted as well. RESULTS: Totally, 27,190 outpatient visits for post-adolescent acne were included. The results revealed that a 10 μg/m(3) increase in PM(10), SO(2), and NO(2) at lag 0–7 day was associated with the increase of outpatient visits for post-adolescent acne at 0.84% (95% CI: 0.53%, 1.16%), 1.61% (95% CI: 0.12%, 3.10%), and 3.50% (95% CI: 1.60%, 5.40%), respectively. The significant positive associations of PM(10), SO(2), and NO(2) were found at both single-lag models and moving average models. The gender-specific analyses showed that the effect estimates of PM(10) was stronger for females than for males, while there was no observed gender difference in the effects of SO(2) and NO(2). CONCLUSION: Short-term exposure to AP was associated with increased outpatient visits for post-adolescent acne, especially for females in the effects of PM(10).