Annals of the American Thoracic Society
September 12, 2026 · via Europe PMC
Short-term air pollution exposure and hospitalizations in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: data from the IPF-PRO Registry.
MacMurdo MG, Wojdyla DM, Gassett A, +8 more, IPF-PRO Registry investigators .
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
In the IPF-PRO registry, each 5 ug/m3 rise in same-day PM2.5 was associated with 22% higher odds of respiratory hospitalization in IPF.
What was studied
Case-crossover analysis of IPF-PRO registry patients (46 US sites) with at least one respiratory hospitalization, estimating daily PM2.5 from the nearest regulatory monitor and using conditional logistic regression with time-stratified control days.
Key findings
- Lag day 0: 22% higher odds per 5 ug/m3 PM2.5 (reported 95% CI 14% to 47%)
- No significant associations for other days in the preceding week
- No effect modification by age, sex, Social Vulnerability Index, MUC5B, telomere length, or antifibrotic use
Clinical relevance
This suggests counseling IPF patients to limit exposure on high-pollution days may be reasonable, though monitor-based exposure estimates are imprecise and the study is observational.
Who should care
Limitations
Exposure estimated from nearest monitors, not personal exposure; observational design; registry funded by industry.
Bad air days may send IPF patients to the hospital the same day, so pollution alerts are worth heeding.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
Rationale
While long-term exposure to ambient air pollution in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has been associated with an increased risk of disease progression and mortality, the risks associated with acute exposure are less clear.
Objective
To determine whether acute exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is associated with an increased risk of respiratory hospitalization in patients with IPF.
Methods
We performed a case crossover analysis of patients with at least one respiratory hospitalization in the IPF-PRO Registry of individuals with IPF enrolled at 46 sites across the US. Acute exposure to PM2.5 was estimated as the average concentration at the regulatory air quality monitor nearest to the individual's residential address for each day in the week preceding hospitalization. Control days were selected using a time-stratified design. Conditional logistic regression estimated the association between average PM2.5 concentration for each lag day and the odds of respiratory hospitalization, adjusting for time-varying confounders.
Results
In adjusted conditional logistic analyses, each 5µg/m3 higher PM2.5 on lag day 0 was associated with a 22% (95% confidence interval, 14% to 47%) higher odds of respiratory-related hospitalization. No significant association was observed for PM2.5 in the other days in the week preceding the hospitalization. There was no significant effect modification by age, sex, Social Vulnerability Index, MUC5B allele status, telomere length, or antifibrotic drug use.
Conclusion
Increased exposure to PM2.5 is associated with an increased risk of same-day hospitalization in individuals with IPF, suggesting that efforts to reduce community and individual exposure to air pollutants may improve patient outcomes.
Clinical trial registration
Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01915511).
Primary source of funding
The IPF-PRO Registry is supported by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc and run in collaboration with the Duke Clinical Research Institute and enrolling centers.
DOI
10.1093/annalsats/aaoag285
PMID
42730644
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
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