SynthesisAge and ageing2025
A systematic review and meta-analysis of air pollution and increased risk of frailty.
Synthesis in Age and ageing, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 2 of them syntheses 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
7 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Longitudinal Trends in Racial and Gender Representation among Academic Faculty: A Systematic Review.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2025Pooled it
- Diagnostic utility of speech-based biomarkers in mild cognitive impairment: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Age and ageing · 2025Pooled it
- Household solid fuel use increases frailty risk in Chinese middle-aged and older adults: a prospective cohort study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Repair and regeneration across the lifespan: an ontogenetic perspective.Frontiers in aging · 2026Review
- When air gets heavy: joint PMFrontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Unveiling the genetic biomarkers for ageing: evidence from a large sample genome-wide association study and in vivo validation.Journal of global health · 2025Article
- Volatile organic compounds exposure associated with frailty in United States adults from NHANES 2011-2018.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEnvironmental air pollution is increasingly recognised as a potential contributor to frailty. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to synthesise existing evidence on the associations between environmental air pollution and frailty in middle-aged and older adults, providing insights into the impact of air pollution on public health.
methodsThe systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Statement 2020. Four electronic databases were searched without restrictions on language, publication status, or year of publication.
resultsOf the 145 publications identified through the systematic search, 18 were included. Meta-analyses indicated a 19% increased risk of frailty due to air pollution (fine particulate matter ≤2.5 microns) [n = 9 studies; pooled odds ratio (OR) 1.19; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.10-1.27], a 28% increase with exposure to household solid fuels (n = 4 studies; OR 1.28; 95% CI 1.16-1.40) and a 59% increase due to exposure to secondhand smoke (n = 3 studies; OR 1.59; 95% CI 0.46-2.72). Except for the meta-analysis on air pollution, no heterogeneity or risk of publication bias was observed amongst the included studies. The Joanna Briggs Institute checklist confirmed high methodological quality across all included studies.
conclusionsEnvironmental exposures, including air pollution, the use of unclean household fuels and exposure to secondhand smoke, significantly increase the risk of frailty. These findings underscore the urgent need to raise awareness and establish effective public health strategies to reduce these environmental risks and associated frailty, particularly in light of population ageing.
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.