The effect of China's Clean Air Act on cognitive function in older adults: a population-based, quasi-experimental study.
Lancet Healthy Longev
; 3(2): e98-e108, 2022 02.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35224526
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Air pollution might accelerate cognitive ageing; it is unclear whether large-scale interventions, such as China's Clean Air Act (CCAA), can mitigate cognitive deterioration. We aimed to evaluate the effect of CCAA on changes in cognitive function in older adults.METHODS:
In this population-based, quasi-experimental study, we did a difference-in-differences analysis of the data collected during the 2014 and 2018 waves of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS). The study design used a counterfactual analysis feature by dividing CLHLS participants into two groups. The intervention group included participants who lived in areas where the provincial government set a target of reducing particulate matter (PM) by at least 5% annually from 2014 onward, whereas the control group consisted of individuals who lived in areas without a PM reduction target. Global cognitive function was measured using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). We used fixed-effects models to examine the between-group differences in MMSE score changes before and after CCAA implementation. We associated longitudinal changes in MMSE scores with changes in concentrations of PM with a diameter of less than 2·5 µm (PM2·5) concentration and other regulated pollutants. We used alternative models and sensitivity analyses to evaluate the robustness of the results from the main models.FINDINGS:
2812 individuals participated in the 2014 and 2018 surveys (mean age 81·0 years [SD 9·3] in 2014; 1408 [50·1%] female and 1404 [49·9%] male). 2251 (80·0%) were included in the intervention group and 561 (20·0%) in the control group. After controlling for potential confounders, the intervention group had a significantly smaller decline in MMSE scores from 2014 to 2018 compared with the control group the mean between-group difference was 2·45 points (95% CI 1·32-3·57). Interquartile increases in PM2·5 were associated with a significant MMSE score decline of 0·83 points (95% CI 0·24-1·42); similarly, increases in SO2 were also associated with a significant MMSE score decline of 0·80 points (0·32-1·29).INTERPRETATION:
Implementing stringent clean air policies might mitigate the risk of air pollutant-associated cognitive ageing in older people.FUNDING:
National Natural Sciences Foundation of China, National Key R&D Program of China, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project, the Duke/Duke-National University of Singapore Collaboration Pilot Project, the National Institute on Aging and Peking University-Baidu Fund, Energy Foundation, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Poluição do Ar
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Região como assunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Lancet Healthy Longev
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article