Association between fine particulate matter exposure and subclinical XXXX : A meta-analysis.

@entity1 @entity731 @entity729
BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies in @entity1 that have evaluated the association between fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and @entity731 have yielded mixed results. DESIGN: In order to further investigate this relationship, we conducted a comprehensive search for studies published through May 2014 and performed a meta-analysis of all available observational studies that investigated the association between PM2.5 and three noninvasive measures of clinical and subclinical @entity731 : carotid intima media thickness, @entity729 , and ankle-brachial index. METHODS AND RESULTS: Five reviewers selected studies based on predefined inclusion criteria. Pooled mean change estimates and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using random-effects models. Assessment of between-study heterogeneity was performed where the number of studies was adequate. Our pooled sample included 11,947 subjects for carotid intima media thickness estimates, 10,750 for @entity729 estimates, and 6497 for ankle-brachial index estimates. Per 10     g/m(3) increase in PM2.5 exposure, carotid intima media thickness increased by 22.52     m but this did not reach statistical significance (p   =   0.06). We did not find similar associations for @entity729 (p   =   0.44) or ankle-brachial index (p   =   0.85). CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis supports a relationship between PM2.5 and subclinical @entity731 measured by carotid intima media thickness. We did not find a similar relationship between PM2.5 and @entity729 or ankle-brachial index, although the number of studies was small.
