Abstract
BACKGROUND: With the increasing prevalence of wildfire smoke in the Pacific Northwest, it is important to quantify health impacts to plan for adequate health services. The Rogue Valley region has historically faced some of the greatest wildfire threats in the state. Health impacts from smoke have been estimated in several recent studies that include Oregon's Rogue Valley, but the results between studies are conflicting. OBJECTIVE: The objective is to critically examine impacts of wildfire smoke on health in the Rogue Valley area and translate the results to support hospital staffing decisions. STUDY DESIGN: The study adopts a case-crossover approach. METHODS: Apply a conditional Poisson regression to analyze time stratified counts while controlling for mean temperature. RESULTS: Every 10 μ/m(3) increase in PM(2.5) is associated with a 2% increase in same-day hospital or emergency room admission rates for respiratory conditions during fire season after adjusting for temperature and time (OR = 1.020; 95% CI: 1.004-1.034); a 10 μ/m(3) increase in PM(2.5) lasting nine days is associated with a 4% increase in admission rates (OR = 1.041; 95% CI: 1.018-1.065). In other words, for each 10 μ/m(3) single day increase in pollution from smoke, an additional 0.26 respiratory patients would be expected in the area hospitals. With a single day increase from 10 μ/m(3) to 150 μ/m(3), hospitals could expect an additional four patients. CONCLUSIONS: There are small but significant health impacts in the Rogue Valley. These impacts are smaller than some statewide estimates. We need further research to understand these differences.