Publications by authors named "Shih-Chun Pan"

Adverse effects on the respiratory system were associated with intensive petroleum-related industrial activities. The study aimed to assess the impact of petrochemical exposure on childhood asthma using various surrogate indices. A singleton birth cohort from 2004 to 2017 was conducted, leveraging two linked nationwide databases in Taiwan.

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Background: Recent evidence suggests brain-first Parkinson's disease (PD) may start from the olfactory system, indicating potential inhalational exposure to causal agents. We investigated the impact of long-term exposure to various air pollutants on PD incidence using both single- and multi-pollutant models to account for interactions between pollutants.

Methods: This retrospective population study used data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (2006 and 2018) and included individuals aged 40-65 without PD.

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Background: The minimum mortality temperature (MMT) or MMT percentile (MMTP) is an indicator of population susceptibility to nonoptimum temperatures. MMT and MMTP change over time; however, the changing directions show region-wide heterogeneity. We examined the heterogeneity of temporal changes in MMT and MMTP across multiple communities and in multiple countries.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how daily rainfall characteristics—like intensity, duration, and frequency—affect mortality rates from all causes, cardiovascular issues, and respiratory problems across 34 countries from 1980 to 2020.
  • It utilizes a time series analysis to evaluate the association between daily mortality and rainfall events that occur at different return periods (one, two, and five years), including the effects of extreme rainfall with a 14-day lag.
  • The results indicate that extreme rainfall events (five-year return period) correlate with increased mortality rates, particularly for respiratory cases, while moderate rainfall shows protective effects, and the impact varies based on climate and vegetation.
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Article Synopsis
  • Temperature variability (TV), both intra-day and inter-day, impacts mortality rates, but this study found intra-day variation poses a higher risk to all-cause, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality.
  • Analyzing data from 758 locations over nearly 50 years, the researchers discovered that each increase in intra-day TV correlates with a greater increase in mortality risk compared to inter-day TV.
  • The study recommends further evaluations of the impacts of temperature variability on health, particularly focusing on intra-day fluctuations, which accounted for more than four times the mortality risk compared to inter-day variability.
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Short-term exposure to ground-level ozone in cities is associated with increased mortality and is expected to worsen with climate and emission changes. However, no study has yet comprehensively assessed future ozone-related acute mortality across diverse geographic areas, various climate scenarios, and using CMIP6 multi-model ensembles, limiting our knowledge on future changes in global ozone-related acute mortality and our ability to design targeted health policies. Here, we combine CMIP6 simulations and epidemiological data from 406 cities in 20 countries or regions.

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Background: More intense tropical cyclones (TCs) are expected in the future under a warming climate scenario, but little is known about their mortality effect pattern across countries and over decades. We aim to evaluate the TC-specific mortality risks, periods of concern (POC) and characterize the spatiotemporal pattern and exposure-response (ER) relationships on a multicountry scale.

Methods And Findings: Daily all-cause, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality among the general population were collected from 494 locations in 18 countries or territories during 1980 to 2019.

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Background: Recent studies have reported that air pollution is related to kidney diseases. However, the global evidence on the risk of death from acute kidney injury (AKI) owing to air pollution is limited. Therefore, we investigated the association between short-term exposure to air pollution-particulate matter ≤ 2.

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The neurotoxic effects of certain heavy metals are well established, but only a few studies have investigated the joint effect of concurrent exposure to multiple ones. The study aims to evaluate the association between mixed exposure to neurotoxic metals and the psychosocial behavior of preschool children. Using a stratified sampling strategy, we recruited participants from 105 kindergartens in 41 townships of Taiwan and excluded those with blood lead levels ≥ 3.

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Background: The epidemiological evidence on the interaction between heat and ambient air pollution on mortality is still inconsistent.

Objectives: To investigate the interaction between heat and ambient air pollution on daily mortality in a large dataset of 620 cities from 36 countries.

Methods: We used daily data on all-cause mortality, air temperature, particulate matter ≤ 10 μm (PM), PM ≤ 2.

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Objective: To investigate potential interactive effects of fine particulate matter (PM) and ozone (O) on daily mortality at global level.

Design: Two stage time series analysis.

Setting: 372 cities across 19 countries and regions.

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Background: The global spatiotemporal pattern of mortality risk and burden attributable to tropical cyclones is unclear. We aimed to evaluate the global short-term mortality risk and burden associated with tropical cyclones from 1980 to 2019.

Methods: The wind speed associated with cyclones from 1980 to 2019 was estimated globally through a parametric wind field model at a grid resolution of 0·5° × 0·5°.

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Background: Air pollution and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) are both associated with increased diabetes mellitus (DM) occurrence. However, whether air pollutants modify the effects of GDM on the occurrence of DM has been unknown. This study aims to determine whether the effect of GDM on DM development can be modified by exposure to ambient air pollutants.

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Background: Evidence on the potential interactive effects of heat and ambient air pollution on cause-specific mortality is inconclusive and limited to selected locations.

Objectives: We investigated the effects of heat on cardiovascular and respiratory mortality and its modification by air pollution during summer months (six consecutive hottest months) in 482 locations across 24 countries.

Methods: Location-specific daily death counts and exposure data (e.

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Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS), a major contributor to cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, has been linked with exposure to air pollution. However, the relationship between air pollutants and the five components of MetS [abdominal obesity, elevated triglyceride, decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), elevated blood pressure, and elevated fasting blood glucose levels], has not been clearly described.

Objective: We examined the association between long-term exposure to air pollutants and the occurrence of MetS and its components by using a longitudinal cohort in Taiwan.

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Background: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Existing studies on the association between temperatures and cardiovascular deaths have been limited in geographic zones and have generally considered associations with total cardiovascular deaths rather than cause-specific cardiovascular deaths.

Methods: We used unified data collection protocols within the Multi-Country Multi-City Collaborative Network to assemble a database of daily counts of specific cardiovascular causes of death from 567 cities in 27 countries across 5 continents in overlapping periods ranging from 1979 to 2019.

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The associations between ambient coarse particulate matter (PM) and daily mortality are not fully understood on a global scale. To evaluate the short-term associations between PM and total, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality across multiple countries/regions worldwide. We collected daily mortality (total, cardiovascular, and respiratory) and air pollution data from 205 cities in 20 countries/regions.

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Background: Increased mortality risk is associated with short-term temperature variability. However, to our knowledge, there has been no comprehensive assessment of the temperature variability-related mortality burden worldwide. In this study, using data from the MCC Collaborative Research Network, we first explored the association between temperature variability and mortality across 43 countries or regions.

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Evidence regarding the negative neurodevelopmental effects of compound exposure to petrochemicals remains limited. We aimed to evaluate the association between exposure to petrochemical facilities and generated emissions during early life and the risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) development in children. We conducted a population-based birth cohort study using the 2004 to 2014 Taiwanese Birth Certificate Database and verified diagnoses of ADHD using the National Health Insurance Database.

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This study determined whether individuals residing near petrochemical industrial parks (PIPs) have a higher risk of chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN). We performed population-based 1:4 case-control study by using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database from 2000 to 2016. The subjects were aged 20-65 years, residing in western Taiwan, and did not have a history of any renal or urinary system disease in 2000.

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Background: Many regions of the world are now facing more frequent and unprecedentedly large wildfires. However, the association between wildfire-related PM and mortality has not been well characterised. We aimed to comprehensively assess the association between short-term exposure to wildfire-related PM and mortality across various regions of the world.

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Background: Exposure to cold or hot temperatures is associated with premature deaths. We aimed to evaluate the global, regional, and national mortality burden associated with non-optimal ambient temperatures.

Methods: In this modelling study, we collected time-series data on mortality and ambient temperatures from 750 locations in 43 countries and five meta-predictors at a grid size of 0·5° × 0·5° across the globe.

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Objective: To evaluate the short term associations between nitrogen dioxide (NO) and total, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality across multiple countries/regions worldwide, using a uniform analytical protocol.

Design: Two stage, time series approach, with overdispersed generalised linear models and multilevel meta-analysis.

Setting: 398 cities in 22 low to high income countries/regions.

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Background: Living near petrochemical industries has been reported to increase the risks of adverse birth outcomes, such as low birth weight and preterm delivery. However, evidence regarding the role of petrochemical exposure in pregnancy complications remains limited. This study evaluated the association between maternal proximity to petrochemical industrial parks (PIPs) during pregnancy and the occurrence of premature rupture of membranes (PROM).

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Background: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurobehavioral disorders in childhood globally. Between the two components of ADHD, hyperactivity disorder is more prevalent than inattention during early childhood. Although some investigations have implied a relationship between childhood ADHD and gestational exposure to air pollution, the evidence is limited.

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