IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v22y2025i8p1283-d1725915.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of Outdoor and Household Air Pollution on Hand Grip Strength in a Longitudinal Study of Rural Beijing Adults

Author

Listed:
  • Wenlu Yuan

    (Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 1G1, Canada)

  • Xiaoying Li

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA)

  • Collin Brehmer

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA)

  • Talia Sternbach

    (Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 1G1, Canada)

  • Xiang Zhang

    (Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0B9, Canada)

  • Ellison Carter

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA)

  • Yuanxun Zhang

    (Beijing Yanshan Earth Critical Zone National Research Station, College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China)

  • Guofeng Shen

    (Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, SinoFrench Institute for Earth System Science, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)

  • Shu Tao

    (Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, SinoFrench Institute for Earth System Science, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)

  • Jill Baumgartner

    (Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 1G1, Canada
    Department of Equity, Ethics, and Policy, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 1G1, Canada)

  • Sam Harper

    (Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 1G1, Canada
    Department of Equity, Ethics, and Policy, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 1G1, Canada)

Abstract

Background: Outdoor and household PM 2.5 are established risk factors for chronic disease and early mortality. In China, high levels of outdoor PM 2.5 and solid fuel use for cooking and heating, especially in winter, pose large health risks to the country’s aging population. Hand grip strength is a validated biomarker of functional aging and strong predictor of disability and mortality in older adults. We investigated the effects of wintertime household and outdoor PM 2.5 on maximum grip strength in a rural cohort in Beijing. Methods: We analyzed data from 877 adults (mean age: 62 y) residing in 50 rural villages over three winter seasons (2018–2019, 2019–2020, and 2021–2022). Outdoor PM 2.5 was continuously measured in all villages, and household (indoor) PM 2.5 was monitored for at least two months in a randomly selected ~30% subsample of homes. Missing data were handled using multiple imputation. We applied multivariable mixed effects regression models to estimate within- and between-individual effects of PM 2.5 on grip strength, adjusting for demographic, behavioral, and health-related covariates. Results: Wintertime household and outdoor PM 2.5 concentrations ranged from 3 to 431 μg/m 3 (mean = 80 μg/m 3 ) and 8 to 100 μg/m 3 (mean = 49 μg/m 3 ), respectively. The effect of a 10 μg/m 3 within-individual increase in household and outdoor PM 2.5 on maximum grip strength was 0.06 kg (95%CI: −0.01, 0.12 kg) and 1.51 kg (95%CI: 1.35, 1.68 kg), respectively. The household PM 2.5 effect attenuated after adjusting for outdoor PM 2.5 , while outdoor PM 2.5 effects remained robust across sensitivity analyses. We found little evidence of between-individual effects. Conclusions : We did not find strong evidence of an adverse effect of household PM 2.5 on grip strength. The unexpected positive effects of outdoor PM 2.5 on grip strength may reflect transient physiological changes following short-term exposure. However, these findings should not be interpreted as evidence of protective effects of air pollution on aging. Rather, they highlight the complexity of air pollution’s health impacts and the value of longitudinal data in capturing time-sensitive effects. Further research is needed to better understand these patterns and their implications in high-exposure settings.

Suggested Citation

  • Wenlu Yuan & Xiaoying Li & Collin Brehmer & Talia Sternbach & Xiang Zhang & Ellison Carter & Yuanxun Zhang & Guofeng Shen & Shu Tao & Jill Baumgartner & Sam Harper, 2025. "Effects of Outdoor and Household Air Pollution on Hand Grip Strength in a Longitudinal Study of Rural Beijing Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 22(8), pages 1-19, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:8:p:1283-:d:1725915
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/8/1283/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/8/1283/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. van Buuren, Stef & Groothuis-Oudshoorn, Karin, 2011. "mice: Multivariate Imputation by Chained Equations in R," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 45(i03).
    2. Prakash Thangavel & Duckshin Park & Young-Chul Lee, 2022. "Recent Insights into Particulate Matter (PM 2.5 )-Mediated Toxicity in Humans: An Overview," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-22, June.
    3. Yukie Hayashi & Steven M. Schmidt & Agneta Malmgren Fänge & Tanji Hoshi & Toshiharu Ikaga, 2017. "Lower Physical Performance in Colder Seasons and Colder Houses: Evidence from a Field Study on Older People Living in the Community," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-9, June.
    4. Andrew Bell & Malcolm Fairbrother & Kelvyn Jones, 2019. "Fixed and random effects models: making an informed choice," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 1051-1074, March.
    5. Ma, Wanglin & Zheng, Hongyun & Gong, Binlei, 2022. "Rural income growth, ethnic differences, and household cooking fuel choice: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Paul Dewick & Shuangzhe Liu, 2024. "Propensity score methods to analyse attitudinal change during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic within the African Country of Malawi," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 1917-1944, April.
    2. Noémi Kreif & Richard Grieve & Iván Díaz & David Harrison, 2015. "Evaluation of the Effect of a Continuous Treatment: A Machine Learning Approach with an Application to Treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(9), pages 1213-1228, September.
    3. Weiqiang Zhu & Yun Zhang, 2024. "Household Energy Clean Transition Mechanisms under Market Failures: A Government Financing Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-29, July.
    4. Abhilash Bandam & Eedris Busari & Chloi Syranidou & Jochen Linssen & Detlef Stolten, 2022. "Classification of Building Types in Germany: A Data-Driven Modeling Approach," Data, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-23, April.
    5. Boonstra Philip S. & Little Roderick J.A. & West Brady T. & Andridge Rebecca R. & Alvarado-Leiton Fernanda, 2021. "A Simulation Study of Diagnostics for Selection Bias," Journal of Official Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 37(3), pages 751-769, September.
    6. KonShik Kim, 2023. "The impact of job quality on organizational commitment and job satisfaction: The moderating role of socioeconomic status," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(3), pages 773-797, August.
    7. Lin Lin & Rachel L Spreng & Kelly E Seaton & S Moses Dennison & Lindsay C Dahora & Daniel J Schuster & Sheetal Sawant & Peter B Gilbert & Youyi Fong & Neville Kisalu & Andrew J Pollard & Georgia D Tom, 2024. "GeM-LR: Discovering predictive biomarkers for small datasets in vaccine studies," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(11), pages 1-23, November.
    8. Baron, Opher & Callen, Jeffrey L. & Segal, Dan, 2023. "Does the bullwhip matter economically? A cross-sectional firm-level analysis," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    9. Christopher J Greenwood & George J Youssef & Primrose Letcher & Jacqui A Macdonald & Lauryn J Hagg & Ann Sanson & Jenn Mcintosh & Delyse M Hutchinson & John W Toumbourou & Matthew Fuller-Tyszkiewicz &, 2020. "A comparison of penalised regression methods for informing the selection of predictive markers," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-14, November.
    10. Liangyuan Hu & Lihua Li, 2022. "Using Tree-Based Machine Learning for Health Studies: Literature Review and Case Series," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-13, December.
    11. Norah Alyabs & Sy Han Chiou, 2022. "The Missing Indicator Approach for Accelerated Failure Time Model with Covariates Subject to Limits of Detection," Stats, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-13, May.
    12. Junpeng Li & Wanglin Ma, 2025. "Alleviating Multidimensional Energy Poverty and Energy Unaffordability in Rural Areas: The Role of Renting-Out Land," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 178(1), pages 465-497, May.
    13. Marek Šedivý, 2023. "Mortality shocks and household consumption: the case of Mexico," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 1289-1358, December.
    14. Burnett, J. Wesley & Lacombe, Donald J. & Wallander, Steven, . "Spatial and Temporal Spillovers in US Cropland Values," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 49(01).
    15. Feldkircher, Martin, 2014. "The determinants of vulnerability to the global financial crisis 2008 to 2009: Credit growth and other sources of risk," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 19-49.
    16. repec:plo:pone00:0154450 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Araki, Satoshi & Olivos, Francisco, 2025. "Gender inequality, well-being, and ill-being: A macro analysis of human and societal flourishing," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 366(C).
    18. Eunsil Seok & Akhgar Ghassabian & Yuyan Wang & Mengling Liu, 2024. "Statistical Methods for Modeling Exposure Variables Subject to Limit of Detection," Statistics in Biosciences, Springer;International Chinese Statistical Association, vol. 16(2), pages 435-458, July.
    19. Ida Kubiszewski & Kenneth Mulder & Diane Jarvis & Robert Costanza, 2022. "Toward better measurement of sustainable development and wellbeing: A small number of SDG indicators reliably predict life satisfaction," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 139-148, February.
    20. Georges Steffgen & Philipp E. Sischka & Martha Fernandez de Henestrosa, 2020. "The Quality of Work Index and the Quality of Employment Index: A Multidimensional Approach of Job Quality and Its Links to Well-Being at Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-31, October.
    21. Christopher Kath & Florian Ziel, 2018. "The value of forecasts: Quantifying the economic gains of accurate quarter-hourly electricity price forecasts," Papers 1811.08604, arXiv.org.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:8:p:1283-:d:1725915. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.