Poor Air and Hospital Visits Can't Be Linked In PG

By Michelle Cyr-Whiting

                        -- Opinion250 file photo of a particularly bad air quality day

The Medical Health Officer says there is no way to make a direct correlation between Air Quality Advisories in the city and an increase in visits to the emergency room at PGRH by city residents suffering from respiratory conditions.

But Dr. Lorna Medd says the data linking poor air quality to adverse health effects is solid, nonetheless.

Dr. Medd says two research projects -- one done in the mid-80’s by her predecessor, Dr. John Millar, and another she conducted in the 90’s -- tried to demonstrate the correlation.  "We’re unable, because of the small numbers, to produce a statistically reliable correlation between bad air quality on the one hand, and an increase in respiratory admissions on the other."

She admits the results were disappointing, "Because, I think, everyone resonates much more strongly when they know that it’s their own hometown that’s experiencing something." 

Instead, Medd says, the correlation is extrapolated from large studies of hundreds of thousands and, even, millions of people.  She says one landmark study of seven U.S. cities, "took the meteorologic patterns and compared it to hospital admissions and emergency room visits...and they got the correlations and they’re solid and nobody challenges them, but we just haven’t got the population."

Northern Health does advise those suffering from respiratory and cardiac conditions that high levels of fine particulates could cause adverse health effects.  Dr. Medd advises residents not to exert themselves out-of-doors, with activities like running.  And she points out that the particulate matter does move indoors to some degree during an advisory.  "For people who are extremely sensitive and aren’t able to get comfortable within their homes, (they may want) to move into a place like a mall where the air is conditioned and would be far lower in terms of particulates, or to get out of the Bowl."

Email | Print | Facebook | Twitter | Digg | Del.icio.us