Aortic & peripheral vascular diseaseCohort study
Long-term exposure to wildfire smoke particulate matter and incident stroke: a US nationwide study
- Prospective open cohort study
- national
- Medicare Fee-for-Service
Authors' conclusion
This study provides national-scale evidence that chronic exposure to wildfire smoke PM2.5 increases stroke risk in older adults.
Study context
- Population
- Medicare Fee-for-Service beneficiaries aged ≥65 years, US, 2007–2018∼2.9 million incident strokes
- Participants
- ∼25 million beneficiaries
- Exposure
- Per 1 µg/m3 increase in long-term wildfire smoke PM2.5 exposure
- Outcome
- Incident stroke
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Incident stroke per 1 µg/m3 increase in 3-year average wildfire smoke PM2.5 · 3-year average exposure
Hazard ratio
1.013
95% CI 1.006–1.020
Per 1 µg/m3 increase in wildfire smoke PM2.5
HR 1.013 (95% CI 1.006–1.020)
Per 1 µg/m3 increase in wildfire smoke PM2.5, as printed
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
Long-term exposure to wildfire smoke particulate matter and incident stroke: a US nationwide study. Eur Heart J. Published 27 January 2026. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf875
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it