Short-term Effect of PM2.5 on Childhood Pneumonia Admissions in Ouagadougou Burkina Faso

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Résumé

Aims: There is evidence that atmospheric PM2.5 concentration is higher in Ouagadougou than the
World Health Organization recommended threshold; however, its impact on childhood pneumonia
admissions is unknown.
Study Design: This was a partial ecological study.
Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso at the
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Pédiatrique Charles de Gaulle (CHUP-CDG) and the Centre
Hospitalier Universitaire Yalgado Ouédraogo (CHU-YO), from July 2019 to June 2020.
Methodology: The study involved 2012 (boys: 54.6%) children under 15 years who were admitted
for respiratory diseases and had complete records. Of the 2012 children, 776 (38.6%) were
diagnosed with pneumonia. The daily pneumonia counts and sociodemographic and clinical data
were retrieved from the hospital’s records. Daily atmospheric PM2.5, temperature, and relative
humidity were recorded in the same period. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA)
modeling was used to forecast daily childhood pneumonia admissions.
Results: The median (IQR) of daily pneumonia admissions (count) and PM2.5 (μg/m3) were 5.0(3.0
8.0) and 19.67(6.05-154.50) respectively. While the likelihood of being hospitalized for pneumonia
in children ≥ 5 years and those < 1 year were similar [OR: 1.35(0.98-1.85)], the odds of the former
being hospitalized for childhood pneumonia was greater than the latter after controlling PM 2.5
[AOR: 1.38(1.00-1.90)]. The odds increased marginally after the addition of temperature [AOR:
1.39(1.01-1.92)] but not humidity [AOR: 1.39(1.01-1.92). In addition, the ARIMA (0, 1, 1) model
was more suitable for forecasting childhood pneumonia admissions.
Conclusion: While no direct association between PM2.5 levels and overall childhood pneumonia
admissions was found, the data suggest that PM2.5 may influence the risk of pneumonia in
children aged 5 years and older. Further studies covering a longer exposure period are however
recommended to validate these findings.

Mots-clés

Particulate matter; PM 2.5; childhood pneumonia; age; admissions; Burkina Faso