Association of air pollution with mental and behavioral disorders in young and middle-aged adults
- 1Ansteel General Hospital
- 2Faculty of Medicine, University of Macau
Abstract
This study investigated the association between air pollutants and mental and behavioral disorders (MBD) among young and middle-aged people. MBD daily outpatient visits, air pollutants and meteorological data for 2017–2019 were collected. Daily data on MBD outpatient visits, air pollutants, and meteorological conditions were analyzed using a distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) within a generalized additive model (GAM) framework with quasi-Poisson regression. We controlled for long-term trends, day of the week, holidays, temperature, and humidity. Stratified analyses by gender were also performed. A total of 24,689 outpatient cases of MBD, 11,415 outpatient cases of depression, and 7,598 outpatient cases of anxiety were collected during the study period. From 2017 to 2019, the presence of high concentrations of SO2 and NO2 significantly increased the number of outpatient visits for MBD in young and middle-aged adults. High concentrations of SO2, NO2 and PM2.5 significantly increased the number of outpatient visits for depression in young and middle-aged adults. Similarly, high concentrations of SO2, NO2, and PM10 have been observed to significantly increase outpatient visits for anxiety in this age group. This study suggested that exposure to high concentrations of air pollutants, especially SO2 and NO2, will significantly increase the risk of outpatient MBD, depression, and anxiety in young and middle-aged adults.
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BibTeX
@article{zhao2026association,
title = {{Association of air pollution with mental and behavioral disorders in young and middle-aged adults}},
author = {Zhixin Zhao and Yanting Chu and Xingtong Chen and Tao Liu},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-69746-2},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-69746-2},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Association of air pollution with mental and behavioral disorders in young and middle-aged adults
AU - Zhixin Zhao
AU - Yanting Chu
AU - Xingtong Chen
AU - Tao Liu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-69746-2
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-69746-2
AB - This study investigated the association between air pollutants and mental and behavioral disorders (MBD) among young and middle-aged people. MBD daily outpatient visits, air pollutants and meteorological data for 2017–2019 were collected. Daily data on MBD outpatient visits, air pollutants, and meteorological conditions were analyzed using a distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) within a generalized additive model (GAM) framework with quasi-Poisson regression. We controlled for long-term trends, day of the week, holidays, temperature, and humidity. Stratified analyses by gender were also performed. A total of 24,689 outpatient cases of MBD, 11,415 outpatient cases of depression, and 7,598 outpatient cases of anxiety were collected during the study period. From 2017 to 2019, the presence of high concentrations of SO2 and NO2 significantly increased the number of outpatient visits for MBD in young and middle-aged adults. High concentrations of SO2, NO2 and PM2.5 significantly increased the number of outpatient visits for depression in young and middle-aged adults. Similarly, high concentrations of SO2, NO2, and PM10 have been observed to significantly increase outpatient visits for anxiety in this age group. This study suggested that exposure to high concentrations of air pollutants, especially SO2 and NO2, will significantly increase the risk of outpatient MBD, depression, and anxiety in young and middle-aged adults.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -