ArticlePloS one2018
County-level air quality and the prevalence of diagnosed chronic kidney disease in the US Medicare population.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Adverse Effects of fine particulate matter on human kidney functioning: a systematic review.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2022Pooled it
- Global and national burden of chronic kidney disease attributable to fine particles: An updated exposure-response meta-analysis.Innovation (Cambridge (Mass.)) · 2026Article
- Association between long-term exposure to particulate matter 2.5 and the risk of rapid renal function decline: a prospective study from CHARLS.Clinical kidney journal · 2026Article
- Chronic PMScientific reports · 2026Article
- Frailty transitions and risk of chronic kidney disease: insights from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study.Renal failure · 2025Article
- Air Pollution, Kidney Injury, and Green Nephrology-Thinking About Its Association and Causation.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Community Water Trihalomethanes and Chronic Kidney Disease.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Elevated exposure to air pollutants accelerates primary glomerular disease progression.Clinical kidney journal · 2025Review
- Airborne particulate matter exposure in male sugarcane workers at risk for chronic kidney disease in Guatemala.Annals of work exposures and health · 2025Article
- Urology on a changing planet: links between climate change and urological disease.Nature reviews. Urology · 2025Review
- The global, regional, and national patterns of change in the burden of chronic kidney disease from 1990 to 2021.BMC nephrology · 2025Article
- Summer temperature and emergency room visits due to urinary tract infection in South Korea: a national time-stratified case-crossover study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Ambient PMEnvironmental geochemistry and health · 2024Article
- Air Pollution and Acute Kidney Injury in the U.S. Medicare Population: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.Environmental health perspectives · 2023Article
- Toxicological Effects of Fine Particulate Matter (PMWater, air, and soil pollution · 2023Review
- The association between fine particulate matter (PMJournal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2022Article
- Association of PMHealth data science · 2022Article
- Short-term exposure to PMJournal of hazardous materials · 2021Article
- Emerging role of air pollution in chronic kidney disease.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2021Review
- Exposure to air pollution and renal function.Scientific reports · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundConsiderable geographic variation exists in the prevalence of chronic kidney disease across the United States. While some of this variability can be explained by differences in patient-level risk factors, substantial variability still exists. We hypothesize this may be due to understudied environmental exposures such as air pollution.
methodsUsing data on 1.1 million persons from the 2010 5% Medicare sample and Environmental Protection Agency air-quality measures, we examined the association between county-level particulate matter ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5) and the prevalence of diagnosed CKD, based on claims. Modified Poisson regression was used to estimate associations (prevalence ratios [PR]) between county PM2.5 concentration and individual-level diagnosis of CKD, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, hypertension, diabetes, and urban/rural status.
resultsPrevalence of diagnosed CKD ranged from 0% to 60% by county (median = 16%). As a continuous variable, PM2.5 concentration shows adjusted PR of diagnosed CKD = 1.03 (95% CI: 1.02-1.05; p<0.001) for an increase of 4 μg/m3 in PM2.5. Investigation by quartiles shows an elevated prevalence of diagnosed CKD for mean PM2.5 levels ≥14 μg/m3 (highest quartile: PR = 1.05, 95% CI: 1.03-1.07), which is consistent with current ambient air quality standard of 12 μg/m3, but much lower than the level typically considered healthy for sensitive groups (~40 μg/m3).
conclusionA positive association was observed between county-level PM2.5 concentration and diagnosed CKD. The reliance on CKD diagnostic codes likely identified associations with the most severe CKD cases. These results can be strengthened by exploring laboratory-based diagnosis of CKD, individual measures of exposure to multiple pollutants, and more control of confounding.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.