{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.02809415337889142, 'fraction_numerical': 0.02126044039483675, 'mean_word_length': 5.30622009569378, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Observational approaches in the study of the effects of Total Suspended Particulates (TSP) exposure

Literature contains mainly reports of observations based on time-series, or those of a case-crossover analysis design or, although less frequently, case control studies. However, data obtained by different approaches are difficult to compare based on different and non-homogenous population. The principal aim of this research was to compare the estimated risks obtained by differing approaches based on the same population study in the period 2006–2009. The data were based on a total of 44,200 residents in the city of Turin, hospitalised for respiratory diseases (ICD 460-519) in the period 2006–2009. Total suspended particulates (TSP), measured in µg/m3, are the most commonly used predictors of urban pollution. The association between hospital admission for respiratory diseases and TSP exposure was investigated using at the same time the time-series, case-crossover and case-control approaches. The analyses show a general comparability of the case-crossover design stratified for time and the time-series approach, and the case control approach provided a more unstable estimation of risks. In conclusion, our results seem to indicate that the different approaches studied seem to offer comparable results.