Fine Particulate Air Pollution and Daily Mortality. A Nationwide Analysis in 272 Chinese Cities

Abstract Rationale Evidence concerning the acute health effects of air pollution caused by fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in developing countries is quite limited. Objectives To evaluate short-term associations between PM2.5 and daily cause-specific mortality in China. Methods A nationwide time-series analysis was performed in 272 representative Chinese cities from 2013 to 2015. Two-stage Bayesian hierarchical models were applied to estimate regional- and national-average associations between PM2.5 concentrations and daily cause-specific mortality. City-specific effects of PM2.5 were estimated using the overdispersed generalized additive models after adjusting for time trends, day of the week, and weather…