Observational studies generate misleading results about the health effects of air pollution: Evidence from chronic air pollution and COVID-19 outcomes.

ABSTRACT: Several observational studies from locations around the globe have documented a positive correlation between air pollution and the severity of COVID-19 disease. Observational studies cannot identify the causal link between air quality and the severity of COVID-19 outcomes, and these studies face three key identification challenges: 1) air pollution is not randomly distributed across geographies; 2) air-quality monitoring networks are sparse spatially; and 3) defensive behaviors to mediate exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 are not equally available to all, leading to large measurement error bias when using rate-based COVID-19 outcome measures (e.g., incidence rate or mortality rate). Using a quasi-experimental design, we explore whether traffic-related air pollutants cause people with

SUBMITTER: Conte MN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10760733 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature