To investigate the respiratory health effects of the 1997 Malaysian haze episode, admissions to hospitals in Kuching, Malaysia, were selected from a database of all hospital admissions that occurred in the state of Sarawak from 1/1/1995-12/31/1998. We compared the survival curve of time to first readmission for the 1997 cohort (exposed to the haze) to the survival curves for the 1995 and 1996 cohorts (.pre-haze. cohorts). Persons with previous admissions for respiratory diseases were more likely to be re-hospitalized for respiratory diseases during the follow-up period in 1997 than during the pre-haze years. These findings suggest an association between forest-fire smoke exposure and increased respiratory hospitalizations among susceptible adults. (from author's abstract)
Mott, J. A.; Alverson, C. J.; Mannino, D.; Kiyu, A.; Hashim, J.; Falter, K.; Redd, S. 2003. The 1997 Malaysian forest fires: Respiratory hospitalizations in persons with a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Population Association of America 2003 Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN. May 1-3.