The Effect of Air Pollution on Morbidity in Ahvaz City in 2016

One of the issues that have threatened human health during the past few decades is air pollution. Air pollution is one of the most important environmental challenges of metropolises in Iran, especially in Ahvaz city. The article aims to explore the effects of air pollution on morbidity using the secondary analysis of environmental and hospital data in Ahvaz city during 2016. The results showed higher values for indices of air pollution and morbidity in winter. Most hospital visits were due to cardiovascular disease, cancer, gastrointestinal, respiratory, skin, and infectious diseases, respectively. The results of multivariate analysis showed that 85 percent of health morbidity in Ahwaz city was explained by ten types of pollutants; PM2.5, PM10, carbon monoxide, and nitrous oxide pollutants had, respectively, the largest effects on morbidity. In addition, the results showed that age and gender were also strongly correlated with morbidity related to the air pollution. In conclusion, reducing morbidity requires policy-making and effective programs to reduce pollutants.