HypertensionCohort study
Low-Level Airborne Particulate Matter and Risk of Hypertension Hospitalization in Older U.S. Adults
- Retrospective cohort study
- national cohort
- double-negative control approach
- causal inference approach
Authors' conclusion
These findings suggest that even PM2.5 exposures below current regulatory thresholds in the United States may contribute to increased hypertension risk
Study context
- Population
- Medicare beneficiaries aged ≥65 years in ZIP codes with annual PM2.5 consistently below 9 μg/m3, contiguous US, 2017–2022more than 26 million
- Exposure
- Per 1-μg/m3 increase in annual PM2.5 below 9 μg/m3
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Hypertension-related hospitalization per 1-μg/m3 increase in annual PM2.5
Increase in hypertension-related hospitalization per 1-μg/m3 increase in PM2.5
2.8% (95% CI 2.5-3.2)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Conventional quasi-Poisson regression models
- Comparable with main estimate
Effect modification by subgroups
- Greater vulnerability among women, residents of the Midwest and Northeast, rural or suburban residents, and more socioeconomically deprived neighborhoods
Parts of this Brief are withheld: the automatic checks could not confirm them against the abstract.
Original publication
Low-Level Airborne Particulate Matter and Risk of Hypertension Hospitalization in Older U.S. Adults. J Am Coll Cardiol. Published 15 April 2026. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2026.02.5112
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it