Association between ambient particulate matter (PM 2.5 /PM 10 ) and first incident ST-elevation myocardial infarction in Suzhou, China

Interests in evaluation of the effect of air pollution and weather conditions on cardiovascular disease have increased. However, the relationship between short-term particulate matter (PM) exposure and first incident ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) remains unclear. Medical records were collected from December 2013 to December 2016. A total of 1354 patients with first incident STEMI were included. The daily average of air pollution and weather conditions were calculated. In this case-crossover study, conditional logistic regression was performed to assess the association between daily concentrations of PM and first incident STEMI. The daily average of PM 2.5 and PM 10 were 58.9 μg/m 3 and 80.2 μg/m 3 , respectively. In this case-crossover study, single-pollutant models showed that each 10 μg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 was associated with a percent change of 3.36, 95% confidence interval (CI): (1.01–5.77), or in PM 10 percent change of 2.1%, 95%CI: (0.2–4.04) for patients with first incident STEMI. The association remained stable after adjusting for ozone (O 3 ). The results from subgroup analysis showed the association slightly enhanced in women, elder patients, patients with history of diabetes, patients without history of smoking, and cold seasons. The p values were not significant between these strata, which may be due to small sample size. This investigation showed that short-term PM exposure associated with first incident STEMI in Suzhou. Given the effect of PM on the first incident STEMI, strategies to decrease PM should be considered.