Journal Article

78 Wildfire smoke-driven PM2.5 and its association with persistent respiratory symptoms and repeated asthma exacerbations among adults with asthma

Gigoyan, Lusine, Hertz-Picciotto, Irva, Liu, Gabrielle, Kenyon, Nick, Raffuse, Sean, Alaniz, Mariela, Kalhan, Ravi

2025

Overview

Objectives/Goals: 1) Determine the association between wildfire smoke-driven PM2.5 and risk of persistent respiratory symptoms and repeated asthma exacerbations after the acute wildfire period among adults with asthma. 2) Examine how measures to reduce personal exposure to wildfire smoke, including avoiding outdoor activities, modify this association. Methods/Study Population: This is a retrospective study of adults with asthma in WHAT-NOW, a cohort study of people living in Northern California during the 2018 Camp Fire. Daily smoke-driven PM2.5 was estimated for each participant based on their home address or evacuation location. We examined the association between mean PM2.5 exposure and the presence of respiratory symptoms at both the time of the survey (6–16 months post-wildfire) and at least one other post-wildfire time-period, as well as whether they had a medically attended respiratory illness (saw a doctor, visited the ER, or were hospitalized for a respiratory symptom). We examined the interaction of PM2.5 with spending time outdoors during the wildfires. Poisson regression models with robust standard errors were adjusted for age, sex, race, smoking, allergies, and education. Results/Anticipated Results: Among 337 adults with asthma in the WHAT-NOW cohort, one standard deviation higher smoke-driven PM2.5 was associated with higher risk of any persistent respiratory symptom (risk ratio (RR) 1.38, 95% CI 1.07 – 1.78) and having at least one medically attended respiratory illness (RR 1.33, 95% CI 1.07 – 1.65), but not significantly associated with repeated asthma exacerbations (RR 1.30, 95% CI 0.92 – 1.81). However, there was a significant interaction between PM2.5 and outdoor activities during the wildfire on the outcomes of any persistent respiratory symptoms (p = 0.041) and repeated asthma exacerbations (p = 0.028). The association between PM2.5 and repeated asthma exacerbations was greater among people who spent time outdoors (RR 3.36, 95% CI 1.47 – 10.23) than those who did not (RR 1.00, p = 0.99). Discussion/Significance of Impact: This study provides evidence that exposure to wildfire smoke increases respiratory morbidity among adults with asthma beyond the acute wildfire period. Additionally, it suggests that avoiding outdoor activities on smoky days can significantly decrease the risk of future repeated asthma exacerbations associated with smoke exposure.

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Subject: Asthma / Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design / Morbidity / Outdoor activities / Outdoors / Population studies / Regression analysis / Respiratory diseases / Smoke / Wildfires