The Association between Particulate Matter 10 and Severity of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Northern Thailand

 Abstract—The purpose of this study was to determine the association between particulate matter with ≤ 10 µ/m 3 (PM10) and the severity of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). A retrospective cohort study design was conducted and collected data by using completed and tested questionnaires. Data were collected from the medical records among the COPD cases from local hospitals in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand. The PM10 was calculated based on two settings of PM10 monitoring system in Chiang Rai Province. The severity of COPD was measured by the Modified Medical Research Council Dyspnea Score (mMRC) method. Logistic regression was applied to test the association between independent and dependent variables. The levels of statistical significance were 0.10 and 0.05 in univariate and multivariate models respectively. Results; the different PM10 exposing level was found in the group for exposure to PM10 (p<0.10) in dry season. Those people who exposed PM10 had a greater in severity of COPD with 5.85 times when compare to un-exposed group (OR= 5.85, 95% CI: 4.12-8.30). Increasing of PM10 level is directly associated with the severity of the COPD, then the increasing of people awareness to avoid and protect from the PM10 are necessary for a better of quality of life among the COPD.