INTRODUCTION
============

The adverse health effects of air pollution on respiratory and cardiovascular diseases are well known to the public. Regulation and monitoring of air pollution are performed at both the national and international levels. Particulate matter (PM) is one type of air pollutant. It is not a specific chemical entity, unlike other commonly known pollutants such as ozone, sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. It is a physical category of dust with different components mixed together \[[@b1-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. The particle size determines the different categorizations: PM~10~ (less than 10 μm aerodynamic diameter) and PM~2.5~ (less than 2.5 μm aerodynamic diameter). PM~2.5~ is also known as fine PM.

PM~2.5~ has been reported to play a major role in increasing the chance of mortality due to cardiovascular diseases because it can penetrate the capillary vessel of the lungs and reach the alveoli \[[@b2-jpmph-49-4-205],[@b3-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. Extensive research has been conducted on the association between PM~2.5~ and respiratory diseases including asthma. Asthma is a syndrome in which reversible respiratory obstruction occurs and is characterized by hypersensitiveness to allergens. When stimulated, a person experiences wheezing and dyspnea. In most cases, asthma is caused by a genetic predisposition and is triggered by environmental allergens.

The prevalence rate of asthma is high in children. In the case of South Korea (hererafter Korea), the prevalence rate of asthma in children steadily increased due to urbanization and westernization. In 2010, a national study based on the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire found that 10.1% of elementary school students and 8.5% of middle school students had experienced symptoms of asthma in the past 12 months \[[@b4-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. These numbers should not be ignored.

Recently published systematic reviews and meta-analyses reported the pooled relative risk (RR) of the number of hospital admissions and emergency department (ED) visits due to asthma as 1.023 (95% confidence interval \[CI\], 1.015 to 1.031, per 10 μg/m^3^ increase) when examining the effects of PM~2.5~ on the total population, and 1.025 (95% CI, 1.013 to 1.037, per 10 μg/m^3^ increase) when the subject was confined to children only \[[@b5-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. Another review that examined the effects of PM~2.5~ on ED visits due to asthma reported a pooled RR of 1.036 (95% CI, 1.018 to 1.053, per 10 μg/m^3^ increase) \[[@b6-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. However, existing studies contain several limitations. These studies were not focused on childhood asthma and only presented pooled effect estimates in children as subgroup analysis. Moreover, most of the relevant studies were conducted in North America and Europe \[[@b7-jpmph-49-4-205]-[@b28-jpmph-49-4-205]\], and although studies conducted in other regions exist \[[@b29-jpmph-49-4-205]-[@b32-jpmph-49-4-205]\], they did not consider the varying effects of PM~2.5~ according to different regions. The design of the study, the background PM~2.5~ mean concentration and variation of the region where the study was conducted, and the time of study may change the effects as well, but these factors were not adequately considered in existing studies.

In addition to the two reviews mentioned above, seven new relevant papers have recently been published \[[@b22-jpmph-49-4-205]-[@b28-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. Of these, the time-series studies assessed the exposure to air pollution by using the exposure value of the population-weighted average in between the measuring points of air pollution \[[@b22-jpmph-49-4-205],[@b24-jpmph-49-4-205],[@b27-jpmph-49-4-205]\], and the case-crossover design studies used the method of matching individual addresses with the PM~2.5~ measures \[[@b25-jpmph-49-4-205],[@b26-jpmph-49-4-205]\], which yielded more accurate results. Therefore, by including these recent developments, we tried to calculate more accurate pooled effect estimates of the effects of PM~2.5~ on childhood asthma and assess the variations of effects induced by differences in some factors such as region or date of research, which have been not adequately examined yet.

METHODS
=======

Selection Criteria
------------------

We first determined some criteria for selecting relevant studies. They are as follows:

1.  1\) The subject of study was limited to children and adolescents under the age of 20.

2.  2\) Study results were limited to computerized records of hospital admissions and ED visits. Outpatient visits were excluded. Hospital admissions confirmed through interviews were not eligible. Subjective symptoms, decrease in pulmonary function, and use of emergency inhalers were not considered endpoints.

3.  3\) Effect estimates had to be presented as an odds ratio (OR) or RR.

Search Terms and Study Selection
--------------------------------

When deciding on search terms, we minimized keywords in order to increase the sensitivity of our searches. Some of the search terms we used were child^\*^, pediatric^\*^, fine particulate matter^\*^, fine particle^\*^, PM~2.5~, asthma^\*^, hospitalization, hospitalisation, admission^\*^, ed, er, and emergency. We searched studies to include in our meta-analysis using PubMed and EMBASE in March of 2016. Moreover, we selected the final eligible studies after having two authors each independently select references according to the criteria above and the same search terms and then comparing the two lists.

Statistical Methods
-------------------

The effect size was expressed as RR. We considered the OR as a proxy to the RR. In order to have all the effect estimates chosen from the selected studies to reflect the same 10 μg/m^3^ increment of PM~2.5~ concentration, we implemented meta-analyses after recalculating the β coefficient and 95% CI presented in each study. Because the purpose of this study is to combine and identify the effects from regions all over the world, generalization of heterogeneous parts of the research group was its goal. Therefore, the random effects model using the DerSimonian and Laird \[[@b33-jpmph-49-4-205]\] estimation method was mainly considered, rather than the fixed effects model \[[@b33-jpmph-49-4-205],[@b34-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. When estimating the pooled effect, the model takes into account both the between-study variation and the within-study variation and provides a greater confidence level than the fixed effects model. The I-squared value (%) was calculated in order to identify heterogeneity.

In the primary meta-analysis of this study, an effect estimate that could represent the selected studies was used. We used the same lag value that was presented in the original paper \[[@b35-jpmph-49-4-205]\], but if a study presented multiple estimates from different lags, we selected the one with the largest effect size. This is because, generally, these works report the greatest effect size \[[@b36-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. If a study did not have one effect estimate that could represent the research, we selected two or more values that were obtained from subjects that were mutually exclusive (that is, if a study did not present an effect estimate in whole participants but presented two or more separate values from stratified groups, we included those in the meta-analysis). In order to identify publication bias, we conducted the Egger's test and identified the degree of asymmetry through a funnel plot \[[@b37-jpmph-49-4-205]\].

Moreover, we conducted category-specific meta-analyses in order to determine what factors influenced the effect of PM~2.5~, if those influences were robust, and what factors contributed to the heterogeneity of effect estimates. We conducted the analyses by sorting the effect estimates into categories of age, results (records of hospital admissions or ED visits), season, design of the study, region, and the lag of exposure. We also conducted a separate analysis according to whether or not different pollutants were adjusted in the statistical model.

We hypothesized that the components of PM~2.5~ would change according to the time of the study and that the size of the effect could change according to the components. In addition, we thought that the variation and the mean concentration of PM~2.5~ in the region where the study was conducted might change the size of the effect. Therefore, through mixed-effects meta-regression, we derived an effect estimate of the time of the study, and the mean and standard deviation of the concentration in the study region on RR for childhood asthma.

All statistical analyses performed using R version 3.1.3 (Comprehensive R Archive Network: <http://cran.r-project.org>) and we carried out a series of statistical analyses described above through the meta package. All statistical analyses set a 5% significance level for the two-tailed test.

RESULTS
=======

Selection of Relevant Studies and Extracting Effect Estimates and Their Confidence Intervals
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A total of 661 references were searched using the search terms mentioned above, and of those, we first selected 56 to examine in whole by excluding overlapping studies (n=171) and reading the titles and abstracts (n=490). Then we ultimately selected 26 studies according to the selection criteria and extracted effect estimates ([Figure 1](#f1-jpmph-49-4-205){ref-type="fig"}). The 26 studies were published between 1999 and 2016, and we summarized each of the research outlines and the main research results in [Table 1](#t1-jpmph-49-4-205){ref-type="table"}. Most of the research was conducted in North America and Europe and both time-series and case-crossover designs were almost equally represented.

After extracting all effect estimates and CIs from the main body of each research paper and its supplementary materials, we broke it down to a total of 244 effect estimates. Of those, we selected 33 representative effect estimates from each study to use in our primary meta-analysis.

Primary Meta-analysis
---------------------

In the random effects model, we were able to find that when the concentration of PM~2.5~ increased by 10 μg/m^3^, the risk of a child's hospital admission or ED visit increased by 4.8% (RR, 1.048; 95% CI, 1.028 to 1.067). The I-squared value, which shows the heterogeneity of the included studies, was 95.6%, a high figure. We presented a forest plot for the included effect estimates and pooled estimates ([Figure 2](#f2-jpmph-49-4-205){ref-type="fig"}).

Publication Bias
----------------

To schematically examine the tendency toward publication bias, we found a relatively symmetrical shape in the funnel plot and confirmed that there was not much of a bias because there was not statistically significant (*p*=0.42) in the Egger 's test ([Figure 3](#f3-jpmph-49-4-205){ref-type="fig"}).

Category-specific Meta-analyses
-------------------------------

We found that the effects are greater on children below the age of five than on children ages 5 to 19, in warmer seasons, and in North America and Europe than in Asia. The pooled effect estimates extracted through the multi-pollutant model was also statistically significant (RR, 1.040; 95% CI, 1.022 to 1.057). According to the lags, the effect changed greatly from 0.2% to 6.5%, and the effect was large for 3-day lag and 3-day average lag ([Table 2](#t2-jpmph-49-4-205){ref-type="table"}).

Meta-regression Analyses
------------------------

We did not find a tendency toward change in the statistically significant RR according to the time of study and the standard deviation of the background concentration of the region of study. We found a negative tendency in the mean PM~2.5~ concentration by the region of study, but it was not statistically significant (β=-0.0008, *p*=0.14) ([Figure 4](#f4-jpmph-49-4-205){ref-type="fig"}).

DISCUSSION
==========

In the primary meta-analysis of the effect estimates obtained from the 26 studies, we found that in the short-term, when the concentration of PM~2.5~ increased 10 μg/m^3^, the risk of a child's hospital admission or ED visit increased 4.8%, which is statistically significant. The effect of PM~2.5~ could be considered quite robust, since the effect was maintained to 4.0% even when we pooled the estimates extracted by the multi-pollutant model in this study. This number is greater than the 2.3% found among the total population presented in the aforementioned study of Zheng et al. \[[@b5-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. These results show that children are more vulnerable to air pollution because their alveoli and airways are still growing, their immune systems are underdeveloped, and they spend more time outdoors, which increases ventilation \[[@b38-jpmph-49-4-205]\].

Based on known biological mechanisms, the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is accelerated because of the transition metal included in PM~2.5~. Oxidative stress from ROS may be related to epithelial cell destruction and allergic inflammation, and this process is known to be related to exacerbation of asthma \[[@b39-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. Meanwhile, previous studies reported that arginase may participate in a process that fine particles exacerbate childhood asthma \[[@b40-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. *In vivo* studies report that the overexpression of arginase influences the hyperresponsiveness of airways \[[@b41-jpmph-49-4-205]\] and that fine particles exacerbate the airway's responsiveness in asthma in murine models \[[@b42-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. Human epidemiological studies have shown that the variation of the ARG1 and ARG2 genes---which are related to the manifestation of arginase in childhood asthma patients---is statistically significant \[[@b40-jpmph-49-4-205],[@b43-jpmph-49-4-205]\].

In the preceding meta-analyses by Zheng et al. \[[@b5-jpmph-49-4-205]\], they suggested 20 relevant studies on children's asthma. We found a discrepancy between the selected studies of Zheng et al. \[[@b5-jpmph-49-4-205]\] and ours even aside from seven papers published more recently. They cited several studies that we excluded in the process of extracting eligible studies. On the other hand, the six studies included in this study were not cited by the preceding study. We selected studies and extracted results carefully focusing on children. Therefore, we believe that the 26 references selected for this study comprise the best selection.

We found that when the concentration of PM~2.5~ increased by 10 μg/m^3^, the risk of a child's hospital admission or ED visit increased by 4.8%. This value is greater than the 2.5% increase in children found in the preceding meta-analysis by Zheng, et al. \[[@b5-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. The following are some reasons to explain this difference. First, the newly added original studies included several studies in which the RR exceeded 1.10 when the measure of effect estimates was converted to 10 μg/m^3^ per increase \[[@b7-jpmph-49-4-205],[@b9-jpmph-49-4-205],[@b13-jpmph-49-4-205],[@b20-jpmph-49-4-205],[@b23-jpmph-49-4-205],[@b28-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. Second, while the previous study pooled the effect estimates from the 0-day, 1-day, or 2-day average lags, we used the model with the greatest effect size out of the lags reported in the original studies.

In this study, we found a difference in RR according to the season, and during the warmer seasons, the RR was 1.085 (95% CI, 1.051 to 1.119). The studies included in our meta-analysis showed quite consistent results \[[@b9-jpmph-49-4-205],[@b20-jpmph-49-4-205],[@b22-jpmph-49-4-205],[@b23-jpmph-49-4-205],[@b31-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. We thought the reason for this was that during warmer seasons, children spend more time outdoors and therefore spend more time exposed to PM~2.5~. In addition, greater ventilation of buildings during these seasons makes it easier for air pollutants to penetrate inside the buildings. It was reported that the individual exposure concentration of PM~2.5~ that people living in well-ventilated environments showed high correlation to the concentration of the atmosphere \[[@b44-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. The difference in components of PM~2.5~ according to the season may also be related, but because the extent of heterogeneity by region is too great, the evidence is not yet definitive \[[@b45-jpmph-49-4-205]-[@b47-jpmph-49-4-205]\].

In terms of the design of the studies, the pooled RRs for the time-series and the case-crossover design studies were 1.028 and 1.051, respectively. For the case-crossover design, the OR was calculated using the conditional logistic regression model. Compared to the RR, the OR has a tendency to overestimate the actual risk. However, it may be thought as a closer representation of reality than the exposure assessment of the time-series because a recently published case-crossover study more accurately matched air pollutants using the addresses of individuals \[[@b20-jpmph-49-4-205],[@b21-jpmph-49-4-205],[@b25-jpmph-49-4-205],[@b26-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. Residential information of patients entering hospitals or visiting the ED cannot be reflected in time-series. If we suppose that PM~2.5~ having an influence on exacerbating asthma as true, even in one study region, there is a possibility that the large effect in certain area with a high concentration could be diluted because of smaller effects in other area with a low concentration. We think that the actual effect is somewhere between the RRs of the time-series studies and the ORs of the case-crossover studies.

When we examine the pooled RR of each lag, we can see that there is up to a 6% difference in value depending on the type of model. The effects of both the concentration three days before (3-day lag) and the average concentration over three days (3-day average lag) were considerable. This result is somewhat difficult to interpret. We need to consider the following factors when dealing with lags: that the ethnicities of the subject of study differ by regions and an accessibility to health services could change depending on the time of study. Through meta-regression analysis, we found a negative tendency among effect sizes depending on the mean concentration of PM~2.5~, but it was not statistically significant. Aside from the three studies in China which the mean concentrastion exceeded 30 μg/m^3^ ([Figure 4](#f4-jpmph-49-4-205){ref-type="fig"}), we did not find a negative tendency in the meta-regression analysis (β=-0.0004, *p*=0.90). Therefore, we could not draw conclusions in this study regarding such a limited tendency. A negative tendency means that the effect on asthma is smaller for regions where the mean concentrations of PM~2.5~ are higher. This means that the relationship between the mean concentration and the childhood asthma could be non-linear, or more specifically, supra-linear.

When we examine the results according to region in the category-specific analyses, the pooled RR of the three studies conducted in Shanghai and Hong Kong was 1.019, which is a smaller value than those in North America (1.047) and Europe (1.075). This is similar to the results of the previous meta-analysis that examined the short-term effects of PM~2.5~ on total mortality and cardiorespiratory mortality, and found that the pooled estimate in China was lower than in the US, Europe, Japan, and Australia \[[@b48-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. A hypothesis that the components of PM~2.5~ in China are different from those of developed countries was raised regarding this finding. In other words, in China, the contributions of coal combustion and desert dust---rather than exhaust from automobiles---were greater than in other regions.

However, in a preceding meta-regression analysis including studies on PM~10~ and cardiorespiratory mortality conducted in China only, a statistically significant negative tendency was reported regarding the association between the mean concentrations of study regions and the effect sizes \[[@b49-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. A study conducted across 27 US regions also reported that the effect of PM~2.5~ was greater in regions with lower background mean concentration, even though the result was not statistically significant \[[@b50-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. In a cohort study on the effect of PM~2.5~ on cardiorespiratory mortality, the risks with the concentration level formed a supra-linear shape \[[@b2-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. Therefore, for the regional effect variation in this study, the hypothesis that the effect was lowered in high concentrations seems more plausible, since only groups with resistance remain and detrimental effects on individuals vulnerable to PM~2.5~ occur in lower concentrations.

There are many other genetic and environmental factors reported to cause childhood asthma besides PM~2.5~. Another hypothesis, following hygiene theory, states that allergic reactions decrease when children are exposed to micro-organisms because immune reactions are suppressed. Since westernization is still in progress in China, the effects of PM~2.5~ on asthma may be small \[[@b51-jpmph-49-4-205],[@b52-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. There may be an objection to this statement since the three Chinese studies included in this study were conducted in Shanghai and Hong Kong, two very westernized large cities, but the infrastructure of the residences and the lifestyles of children growing up in such regions are different from those of North America and Europe.

There are some limitations of this study. First, outpatient visits, use of inhalers, and other symptom outbreaks could all be considered health effects and consequences, but we confined the results to hospital admissions and ED visits which were mainly reported in previous studies. Therefore, the pooled effect estimate reported in our study might be underestimated. But in a study that uses surveys on symptoms and use of inhalers, the period between the exposure and outbreak could be imprecise. Moreover, results from a survey could be subjective. In cases of outpatient visits, we cannot exclude periodic follow-up cases. Second, we combined the RRs with the ORs because we deemed the OR to be proxy to the RR. Because of this, we may have calculated an overestimated value rather than the actual risk. However, in the case of Korea, hospitalization due to asthma among children between the ages of zero to 19 was 0.14% in 2014 \[[@b53-jpmph-49-4-205]\]. The frequency of hospital admissions or ED visits due to asthma is rare so a possible bias will be negligible. Third, we could not control the innate heterogeneity of the selected studies. Components of PM~2.5~, ethnicities of the study population, and accessibility to health service as well as different age range, season, and adjusting variables or parameters in statistical models all probably affected the heterogeneity of the studies. However, we did not find a significant decrease of heterogeneity ([Table 2](#t2-jpmph-49-4-205){ref-type="table"}). In order to obtain a more accurate pooled effect estimate, a meta-analysis should be conducted after an in-depth examination of the methods and quality of research.

The strength of this study is that we newly included seven recent studies in our meta-analysis. In addition, with a focus on children, we examined variations in effect of different possible factors, and presented the direction for future studies. In particular, we raised the need for an epidemiological study on regions besides China with high concentrations of PM~2.5~.

CONCLUSION
==========

We found that in the short-term, when the concentration increased by 10 μg/m^3^, the risk of a child's hospital admission or ED visit increased by 4.8%. If we consider the fact that air pollution affects a vast range of regions and many populations, this is not a negligible figure. A more fundamental solution is the reduction of the matter from emission sources, so we need to conduct studies on sources that emit PM~2.5~ and draft feasible environment-friendly policies for such emission sources.

This study was supported by the R&D Program for Society of the National Research Foundation funded by Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, Republic of Korea (grant no. 2014M3C8A5030619).

**CONFLICT OF INTEREST**

The authors have no conflicts of interest associated with the material presented in this paper.

![Selection process for systematic review and metaanalysis. PM~2.5~, fine particulate matter; ER, emergency room; CI, confidence interval.](jpmph-49-4-205f1){#f1-jpmph-49-4-205}

![Forest plot for selected effect estimates in primary meta-analysis. RR, relative risk; CI, confidence interval; Wt, weight.](jpmph-49-4-205f2){#f2-jpmph-49-4-205}

![Funnel plot for a possible selection bias in the primary meta-analysis (A). After removing three estimates (Anderson et al. \[[@b8-jpmph-49-4-205]\], Tecer et al. \[[@b12-jpmph-49-4-205]\], and Halonen et al. \[[@b13-jpmph-49-4-205]\]) from the right-lower area in A, still symmetrical shape is shown (B). Each black circle denotes each effect estimate of the selected studies, and the vertical red dotted line denotes the pooled random effect risk ratio in the primary meta-analysis. The p-value is derived from Egger's test.](jpmph-49-4-205f3){#f3-jpmph-49-4-205}

![Bubble plot and regression line for mixed-effect meta-regression of study mean fine particulate matter (PM~2.5~) concentration and effect estimate. The black circles denote each effect estimate and their sizes represent each weight. The bold red line indicates a linear relationship between study mean PM~2.5~ concentration and relative risk and the black dotted lines indicate a 95% confidence interval.](jpmph-49-4-205f4){#f4-jpmph-49-4-205}

###### 

Summary of selected studies on the association of short-term fine particulate matter (PM~2.5~) exposure with pediatric HA and ED visits for asthma

  Author (publication year) \[Ref\]                                   Study period                                                        Location              Sample                                                                                Exposure assessment                                                                                                                                                                             Outcome                                                          Study design   Statistical model                         PM~25~ arithmetic mean concentration (μg/m^3^)(SD)                                                                                     Major effect estimates (risk ratio) (95% CIs)
  ------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- ----------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------
  Norris et al. (1999) \[[@b7-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                       Sep 1, 1995-Dec 31, 1996                                            Seattle, USA          \<18y, 900 patients                                                                   3 Fixed sites; a daily arithmetic mean was calculated and used                                                                                                                                  ED visits                                                        TS             GAM with Poisson distribution             12.0 (9.5)                                                                                                                             Single-pollutant model
   1.15 (1.08, 1.23) for 1-d lag IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
  Multi-pollutant model with SO~2~ and NO~2~                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
   1.17 (1.08, 1.26) for 1-d lag IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
  Lin et al. (2002) \[[@b8-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                          Jan 1, 1981-Dec 31, 1993                                            Toronto, Canada       6-12 y, 7319 (boys: 4629, girls: 2690) patients                                       1 Fixed site; the authors obtained data on every 6-d period from 1984 to 1990 and instructed a daily predicted value via modeling                                                               HA                                                               TS and CCD     GAM and conditional logistic regression   18.0 (8.5)                                                                                                                             Single-pollutant model
   (a) Boys,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
    1.00 (0.97, 1.04) for the same day IQR increase in TS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
    1.01 (0.97, 1.06) for the same day IQR increase in CCD                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
   (b) Girls,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
    1.06 (0.99, 1.13) for 5-d average IQR increase in TS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
    1.04 (0.95, 1.15) for 5-d average IQR increase in CCD                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
  Multi-pollutant model with CO, SO~2~, NO~2~ and O~3~                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
   (a) Boys,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
    0.96 (0.90, 1.02) for 5-d average IQR increase in TS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
    0.94 (0.85, 1.03) for 5-d average IQR increase in CCD                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
   (b) Girls,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
    1.01 (0.93, 1.10) for 5-d average IQR increase in TS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
    0.96 (0.85, 1.09) for 5-d average IQR increase in CCD                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
  Lee et al. (2006) \[[@b29-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                         Jan 1, 1997-Dec 31, 2002                                            Hong Kong, China      ≤18 y, 26 663 patients                                                                13 Fixed sites (before 2000, 11 sites); a daily arithmetic mean was calculated and used                                                                                                         HA                                                               TS             GAM with Poisson distribution             45.3 (16.2)                                                                                                                            Single-pollutant model
   1.066 (1.045, 1.087) for 4-d lag IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
  Multi-pollutant model with CO, SO~2~, NO~2~ and O~3~                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
   1.032 (1.009, 1.056) for 1-d lag IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
  Ko et al. (2007) \[[@b30-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                          Jan 1, 2000-Dec 31, 2005                                            Hong Kong, China      ≤14 y, 23 596 patients                                                                3 Fixed sites; a daily arithmetic mean was calculated and used                                                                                                                                  HA                                                               TS             GAM with Poisson distribution             65.4 (21.1)                                                                                                                            Single-pollutant model
   1.024 (1.013, 1.034) for 5-d average 10 μg/m^3^ increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
  Villneneuve et al. (2007) \[[@b9-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                  Jan 1, 1998-Mar 31, 2002                                            Edmonton, Canada      2-4 y, 7247 patients;                                                                 3 Fixed sites; a daily arithmetic mean was calculated and used                                                                                                                                  ED visits                                                        CCD            Conditional logistic regression           7.0^[1](#tfn1-jpmph-49-4-205){ref-type="table-fn"}^ in Apr to Sep; 7.3^[1](#tfn1-jpmph-49-4-205){ref-type="table-fn"}^ in Oct to Mar   Single-pollutant model:
  5-14 y, 13 145 patients                                             \(a\) 2-4 y,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
   1.06 (0.97, 1.15) for 5-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
    - Oct to Mar: 0.95 (0.84, 1.07)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
    - Apr to Sep: 1.16 (1.04, 1.28)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
  \(b\) 5-14 y,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
   1.06 (1.00, 1.12) for 5-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
    - Oct to Mar: 0.99 (0.91, 1.09)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
    - Apr to Sep: 1.10 (1.02, 1.17)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
  Andersen et al. (2008) \[[@b10-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                    Oct 3, 2003-Dec 31, 2004                                            Copenhagen, Denmark   5-18 y, 559 patients in single pollutant model; 318 patients in two-pollutant model   1 Fixed site; a daily arithmetic mean was calculated and used                                                                                                                                   HA                                                               TS             GLM with Poisson regression               10.0 (5.0)                                                                                                                             Single-pollutant model
   1.15 (1.00, 1.32) for 6-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
  Two-pollutant model with total number concentration of particles                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
   1.13 (0.98, 1.32) for 6-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
  Halonen et al. (2008) \[[@b11-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                     Jan 1, 1998-Dec 31, 2004                                            Helsinki, Finland     \<15y, 4807 patients                                                                  Fixed monitoring site, no specific information available                                                                                                                                        ED visits                                                        TS             GLM with Poisson regression               9.5^[1](#tfn1-jpmph-49-4-205){ref-type="table-fn"}^                                                                                    Single-pollutant model
  1.026 (0.083, 1.054) for 4-d lag IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
  Jalaludin et al. (2008) \[[@b31-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                   Jan 1, 1997-Dec 31, 2001                                            Sydney, Australia     1-14y, 317 724 patients                                                               14 Fixed sites; a daily arithmetic mean was calculated and used                                                                                                                                 ED visits                                                        CCD            Conditional logistic regression           9.4 (5.1)                                                                                                                              Single-pollutant model
   (a) 1-4 y,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
    1.014 (1.007, 1.021) for the same-day IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
     - Warm months: 1.009 (1.002, 1.017)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
     - Cool months: 1.010 (0.999, 1.024)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
   (b) 5-9 y,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
    1.016 (1.005, 1.027) for the same-day IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
     - Warm months: 1.013 (1.003, 1.024)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
     - Cool months: 0.995 (0.976, 1.015)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
   (c) 10-14 y,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
    1.012 (.0998, 1.027) for the same-day IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
     - Warm months: 1.001 (0.987, 1.024)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
     - Cool months: 1.017 (0.991, 1.044)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
  Two-pollutant model with NO~2~                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
   (a) 1-4 y,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
    1.008 (1.001, 1.015) for the same-day IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
   (b) 5-9 y,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
    1.016 (1.006, 1.026) for the same-day IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
   (c) 10-14 y,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
    1.011 (0.999, 1.024) for the same-day IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
  Tecer et al. (2008) \[[@b12-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                       Dec 31, 2004-Oct 31, 2005                                           ZiDnguldak, Turkey    \<15y, 187 patients                                                                   1 Fixed site; a daily arithmetic mean was calculated and used                                                                                                                                   HA                                                               CCD            Conditional logistic regression           29.1 (NA)                                                                                                                              Single-pollutant model
   1.25 (1.05, 1.50) for 4-d lag 10 μg/m^3^ increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
   1.37 (1.06, 1.76) for 4-d lag IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
  Halonen et al. (2010) \[[@b13-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                     Jan 1, 1998-Dec 31, 2004                                            Helsinki, Finland     Restricted to the warm season (May to Sep)                                            2 Fixed sites; a daily arithmetic mean was calculated and used                                                                                                                                  ED visits                                                        TS             GAM with Poisson distribution             8.8^[1](#tfn1-jpmph-49-4-205){ref-type="table-fn"}^                                                                                    Two-pollutant model with O~3~
  \<15 y, 1972 patients                                                1.148 (1.038, 1.270) for 5-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
  Silverman et al. (2010) \[[@b14-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                   Jan 1, 1999-Dec 31, 2006                                            New York City, USA    Restricted to the warm season (Apr to Aug)                                            24 Fixed sites; a daily arithmetic mean was calculated and used                                                                                                                                 HA                                                               TS             GLM with Poisson regression               13^[1](#tfn1-jpmph-49-4-205){ref-type="table-fn"}^                                                                                     Single-pollutant model
  \<6 y                                                                (a) \<6 y,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
  \- Non-ICU admission: 15 185,                                         - Non-ICU: 1.14 (1.10, 1.19) for 2-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
  \- ICU admission: 1141 patients                                       - ICU: 1.03 (0.91, 1.17) for 2-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
  6-18y                                                                (b) 6-18 y,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
  \- Non-ICU admission: 10 332,                                         - Non-ICU: 1.19 (1.11, 1.27) for 2-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
  \- ICU admission: 994 patients                                        - ICU: 1.26 (1.10, 1.44) for 2-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
  Two-pollutant model with O~3~                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
   (a) \<6 y,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
    - Non-ICU: 1.13 (1.08, 1.18) for 2-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
    - ICU: 1.04 (0.91, 1.19) for 2-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
   (b) 6-18 y,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
    - Non-ICU: 1.16 (1.08, 1.23) for 2-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
    - ICU: 1.23 (1.07-1.41) for 2-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
  Strickland et al. (2010) \[[@b15-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                  Aug 1, 1998-Dec 31, 2004                                            Atlanta, USA          5-17 y, 91 386 patients                                                               11 Fixed sites; a population-weighting average across monitors was calculated and used                                                                                                          ED visits                                                        TS             GLM with Poisson regression               16.4 (7.4)                                                                                                                             Single-pollutant model
   - Whole period: 1.020 (1.002,1.039) for 3-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
   - Warm season: 1.043 (1.016, 1.070) for 3-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
   - Cold season: 1.005 (0.978, 1.031) for 3-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
  Li et al. (2011) \[[@b16-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                          Jan 1, 2004-Dec 31, 2006                                            Detroit, USA          2-18 y, 7063 patients                                                                 4 Fixed sites; a daily arithmetic mean was calculated and used                                                                                                                                  ED visits + HA^[2](#tfn2-jpmph-49-4-205){ref-type="table-fn"}^   TS and CCD     GAM and conditional logistic regression   15.0 (7.9)                                                                                                                             Single-pollutant model
   1.030 (1.001, 1.061) for 5 d average IQR increase in TS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
   1.039 (1.013, 1.066) for 5 d average IQR increase in CCD                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
  Glad et al. (2012) \[[@b17-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                        Jan 1, 2002-Dec 31, 2005                                            Pittsburgh, USA       0-17 y, 978 patients                                                                  2 Fixed sites; a daily arithmetic mean was calculated and used                                                                                                                                  ED visits                                                        CCD            Conditional logistic regression           NA                                                                                                                                     Single-pollutant model
   1.012 (0.916, 1.118) for the same-day 10 μg/m^3^ increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
  Iskandar et al. (2012) \[[@b18-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                    May 15, 2001-Dec 31, 2008                                           Copenhagen, Denmark   0-18 y, 6329 patients                                                                 1 Fixed site; a daily arithmetic mean was calculated and used                                                                                                                                   HA                                                               CCD            Conditional logistic regression           10.3 (5.4)                                                                                                                             Single-pollutant model
   1.09 (1.04, 1.13) for 5-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
  Two-pollutant model with NO~2~:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
   1.06 (1.02, 1.11) for 5-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
  Winquist et al. (2012) \[[@b19-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                    Jan 1, 2001-Jun 27, 2007                                            St. Louis, USA        0-1 y.                                                                                1 Fixed site; a daily arithmetic mean was calculated and used                                                                                                                                   ED visits & HA                                                   TS             GLM with Poisson regression               14.4 (7.5)                                                                                                                             Single-pollutant model
  \- ED: 12 236 patients                                               (a) 0-1 y,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
  2-18 y.                                                               - ED: 1.047 (0.999, 1.097) for 5-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
  \- ED: 49 978 patients                                               (b) 2-18 y,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
  \- All HA: 7095 patients                                              - ED: 1.050 (1.021,1.080) for 5-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
    - HA: 1.052 (0.985, 1.123) for 5-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
  Delfino et al. (2014) \[[@b20-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                     Jan 1, 2000-Dec 31, 2008                                            California, USA       0-18 y, 11 390 patients                                                               Subject addresses were geocoded; using a modified, California LINE Source Dispersion Model, version. 4 to estimate pollutants at each residence                                                 ED visits + HA^[2](#tfn2-jpmph-49-4-205){ref-type="table-fn"}^   CCD            Conditional logistic regression           \- Warm season: 16.0 (9.5)                                                                                                             Single-pollutant model
  \- Cool season: 19.0 (13.8)                                          - Warm season: 1.079 (1.008, 1.154) for 7-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
   - Cool season: 1.162 (1.076, 1.254) for 7-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
  Gleason et al. (2014) \[[@b21-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                     Jan 1, 2004-Dec 31, 2007                                            New Jersey, USA       3-17 y, 21 854 patients                                                               Subject addresses were geocoded; using 12×12-km grid from the Multi-Scale Air Quality Model to estimate pollutants at each residence                                                            ED visits                                                        CCD            Conditional logistic regression           NA                                                                                                                                     Single-pollutant model
   1.03 (1.02, 1.04) for the same day IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
  Multipollutant model with O~3~ and other pollens                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
   0.99 (0.98, 1.01) for the same day IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
  Hua et al. (2014) \[[@b32-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                         Jan 1, 2007-Jul 31, 2012                                            Shanghai, China       0-14 y, 114 673 patients                                                              1 Fixed site; a daily arithmetic mean was calculated and used                                                                                                                                   HA                                                               TS             Polynomial distributed lag model          40.9 (27.7)                                                                                                                            Single-pollutant model
   1.04 (1.02, 1.05) for IQR increase with a maximum lag of 3 d                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
   1.06 (1.05, 1.08) for IQR increase with a maximum lag of 5 d                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
  Multipollutant model with NO~2~ and SO~2~                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
   1.03 (1.02, 1.05) for IQR increase with a maximum lag of 3 d                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
   1.06 (1.04, 1.08) for IQR increase with a maximum lag of 5 d                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
  Strickland et al. (2014) \[[@b22-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                  Jan 1, 2002-Jun 30, 2010                                            Atlanta, USA          2-16 y, 109 758 patients                                                              6 Fixed sites; a population-weighting average across monitors calculated and used                                                                                                               ED visits                                                        TS             GLM with Poisson regression               13.3 (5.4)                                                                                                                             Single-pollutant model
   1.032 (1.019, 1.044) for 3-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
  Two-pollutant model with O~3~                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
   1.022 (1.009, 1.035) for 3-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
  Wendt et al. (2014) \[[@b23-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                       Jan 1, 2005-Dec 31, 2007                                            Boston, USA           0-17 y                                                                                3 Fixed sites; a daily arithmetic mean was calculated and used                                                                                                                                  HA                                                               CCD            Conditional logistic regression           15.0 (6.0)                                                                                                                             Single-pollutant model
  \- May to Oct: 6061 patients                                         - May to Oct: 1.10 (1.03, 1.17) for 6-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
  \- Nov to Apr: 7894 patients                                         - Nov to April: 1.06 (1.00, 1.14) for 6-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
  Two-pollutant model with NO~2~                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
   - May to Oct: 1.13 (1.04, 1.24) for 6-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
   - Nov to Apr: 1.00 (0.93, 1.07) for 6-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
  Byers et al. (2016) \[[@b24-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                       Jan 1, 2007-Dec 31, 2011                                            Indianapolis, USA     5-17 y, 33 981 patients                                                               3 Fixed sites; a population-weighting average across monitors calculated and used                                                                                                               ED visits                                                        TS             GLM with Poisson regression               13.6 (7.1)                                                                                                                             Single-pollutant model
   - All seasons: 1.007 (0.986, 1.029) for 3-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
   - Apr to Sep: 0.985 (0.934, 1.040) for 3-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
   - Oct to Mar: 0.976 (0.930, 1.025) for 3-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
  Gleason et al. (2015) \[[@b25-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                     Jan 1, 2004-Dec 31, 2007                                            Newark, USA           3-17 y, 3675 patients                                                                 Subject addresses were geocoded; using grid from the Multi-Scale Air Quality Model to estimate pollutants at each residence                                                                     ED visits                                                        TS and CCD     GLM and conditional logistic regression   NA                                                                                                                                     Single-pollutant model
   1.00 (0.96, 1.05) for 3-d average IQR increase in TS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
   1.00 (0.96, 1.04) for 3-d average IQR increase in CCD                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
  Multipollutant model with O~3~ and other pollens                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
   0.93 (0.89, 0.98) for 3-d average IQR increase in TS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
   0.95 (0.91, 1.00) for 3-d average IQR increase in CCD                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
  Strickland et al. (2015) \[[@b26-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                  Jan 1, 2002-Jun 30, 2010                                            Georgia, USA          2-18 y, 189 816 patients                                                              Subject addresses were geocoded; using a two-stage model that includes land use parameters and satellite aerosol optical depth measurements at 1-km resolution to estimate pollutants           ED visits                                                        CCD            Conditional logistic regression           12.9^[1](#tfn1-jpmph-49-4-205){ref-type="table-fn"}^                                                                                   Single-pollutant model
   1.013 (1.003, 1.023) for the same day 10 μg/m^3^ increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
  Alhanti et al. (2016) \[[@b27-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                     Jan 1, 2006-Dec 31, 2009                                            Dallas, USA           0-4 y, mean daily counts: 16.91 patients                                              All available monitors; the monitoring data were first spatially interpolated across the study's geographic domain and then a population-weighted average across monitors calculated and used   ED visits                                                        TS             GLM with Poisson regression               11.1 (4.7)                                                                                                                             Single-pollutant model
  5-18 y, mean daily counts: 25.75 patients                            0-4 y, 0.98 (0.94, 1.02) for 3-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
   5-18 y, 0.99 (0.95, 1.03) for 3-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
  Weichenthal et al. (2016) \[[@b28-jpmph-49-4-205]\]                 Jan 1, 2004-Dec 31, 2011                                            Ontario, Canada       Total; 127 836 patients,                                                              Fixed site in Ontario which is part of Canada's National Air Pollution Surveillance network; a daily arithmetic mean was calculated and used                                                    ED visits                                                        CCD            Conditional logistic regression           7.1 (6.3)                                                                                                                              Single-pollutant model
  \<9y, NA                                                             1.072 (1.042, 1.100) for 3-d average IQR increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Ref, reference number; HA, hospital admission; ED, emergency department; GLM, generalized linear model; GAM, generalized additive model; NA, not available; IQR, interquartile range; TS, time series; CCD, case-crossover design; PM, particulate matter; SD, standard devaition; CI, confidence interval; ICU, intensive care unit; CO, carbon monoxide; SO~2~, sulfur dioxide; NO~2~, nitrogen dioxide; O~3~, ozone.

Median value of the daily PM~2.5~ distribution during the entire study period. This study doesn't present the arithmetic mean of PM~2.5~.

The authors regarded asthma morbidity as hospital encounters which counted both HA and ED visits.

###### 

Results of category-specific meta-analyses

                                                        No. of study (no. of estimate)   RR (95% CIs)^[1](#tfn3-jpmph-49-4-205){ref-type="table-fn"}^   I^[2](#tfn4-jpmph-49-4-205){ref-type="table-fn"}^ (%)
  ----------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------
  Age^[2](#tfn4-jpmph-49-4-205){ref-type="table-fn"}^                                                                                                   
   \< 5                                                 7 (9)                            1.044 (1.017, 1.071)                                           81.9
   5-18                                                 12 (15)                          1.027 (1.011, 1.043)                                           76.8
  Outcome                                                                                                                                               
   HA                                                   10 (15)                          1.048 (1.029, 1.067)                                           77.7
   ED visits                                            15 (17)                          1.027 (1.011, 1.044)                                           79.5
  Season                                                                                                                                                
   Cold                                                 7 (8)                            1.015 (0.994, 1.037)                                           57.1
   Warm                                                 9 (11)                           1.085 (1.051, 1.119)                                           94.8
  Study design                                                                                                                                          
   TS                                                   15 (19)                          1.028 (1.015, 1.041)                                           76.9
   CCD                                                  13 (17)                          1.051 (1.020, 1.084)                                           96.6
  Area                                                                                                                                                  
   North America                                        14 (19)                          1.047 (1.019, 1.076)                                           96.1
   Europe                                               8 (11)                           1.075 (1.030, 1.123)                                           65.9
   China                                                3 (3)                            1.019 (1.013, 1.025)                                           0.0
  Multipollutant model                                                                                                                                  
   No                                                   25 (33)                          1.054 (1.037, 1.071)                                           96.0
   Yes                                                  13 (18)                          1.040 (1.022, 1.057)                                           83.1
  Time lag (d)                                                                                                                                          
   0 (same day)                                         12 (14)                          1.018 (1.005, 1.028)                                           60.9
   1                                                    11 (13)                          1.018 (1.005, 1.030)                                           59.6
   2                                                    8 (8)                            1.002 (0.984, 1.021)                                           84.6
   3                                                    10 (11)                          1.030 (1.015, 1.045)                                           66.6
   4                                                    4 (4)                            1.016 (0.969, 1.065)                                           83.1
   5                                                    5 (6)                            1.019 (0.975, 1.065)                                           93.5
  Average                                                                                                                                               
   2                                                    3 (7)                            1.065 (1.020, 1.113)                                           81.7
   3                                                    11 (15)                          1.019 (1.006, 1.033)                                           82.2
   5                                                    10 (14)                          1.025 (1.007, 1.043)                                           77.4
   6                                                    3 (5)                            1.029 (0.938, 1.129)                                           69.9

RR, relative risk; CI, confidence interval; HA, hospital admission; ED, emergency department; TS, time-series; CCD, case-crossover design.

Calculated by DerSimonian and Laird random effects model \[[@b33-jpmph-49-4-205]\].

There are two exceptions: Silverman et al. \[[@b14-jpmph-49-4-205]\] and Iskandar et al. \[[@b18-jpmph-49-4-205]\]: cut-off age is six.
