From the Department of Neurology (Dr Yang); Department of Medical Research (Dr Yang, Ms Lu, Dr Yan), Kuang Tien General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; Institute of Biomedical Nutrition, Hung Kuang University, Taichung, Taiwan (Dr Yang, Dr Yan); Department of Public Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan (Dr Li); Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan (Dr Li); Department of Safety, Health, and Environmental Engineering, Hung Kuang University, Taichung, Taiwan (Dr Huang); Department of Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan (Dr Yu); Department of Healthcare Administration, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan (Dr Yang); Institute of Hospital and Health Care Administration, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan (Dr Lang); National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan (Dr Lang); Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Kuang Tien General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan (Dr Yan).
Address correspondence to: Yuan-Horng Yan, MD, PhD, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Kuang Tien General Hospital, No. 117, Shatian Road Shalu District, Taichung City 433, Taiwan ([email protected]); Hui-Chu Lang, PhD, Institute of Hospital and Health Care Administration, National Yang-Ming University, No 155 Sec 2 Li-Nong Street, Taipei 112, Taiwan ([email protected]).
Dr Yang and Dr Li have equal contribution as first author.
Dr Lang and Dr Yan have equal contribution as corresponding author.
This research was supported by Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (MOST 105-2410-H-010-012-SS2). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Conflict of Interest: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Clinical Significance: We found significant short-term, middle-term and long-term relationships between PM2.5 and the incidence of ischemic stroke in Taiwan. This study adds to the evidence that PM2.5 should be considered an additional risk factor for ischemic stroke, and ischemic stroke disease burden attributable to PM2.5 should be further assessed.
