Effect of Ambient Air Pollutants on the Medical Costs of Allergic Rhinitis in Seoul, Korea

Background: Ambient air pollutants are considered significant factors that influence allergic diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of ambient air pollution on the medical costs of allergic rhinitis (AR) through a time-series analysis. Methods: We used data from the Korean National Health Insurance Database from January 2016 to December 2019. The total cost for medical management and outpatient prescriptions for AR, estimated by the National Health Insurance Service for 25 districts, was summed as the total medical costs. The monthly concentrations of PM₁₀, PM_2.5, NO₂, CO, O₃, and SO₂ were calculated, and time-series analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of ambient air pollutants on the medical cost of AR using the seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model. Results: Time-series analysis revealed that the concentrations of PM₁₀, NO₂, and CO were significantly associated with an increased medical cost of AR when adjusting for monthly differences and seasonality (p = 0.048, p = 0.001, and p = 0.001 respectively). The increase in medical costs of AR was 6.22% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.0%–12.37%), 11.27% (95% CI: 6.03%–16.50%), and 11.05% (95% CI: 7.09%–15.01%) per one standard deviation increase in PM1₀, NO2, and CO respectively. Conclusions: The monthly concentrations of PM1₀, NO₂, and CO were significantly associated with the increased medical costs of AR when adjusting for monthly differences and seasonality. This analysis provides a better understanding of the health and economic effects of ambient air pollutants on AR. Level of Evidence: N/A Laryngoscope, 133:1828–1833, 2023.