Association between long-term ambient PM(2).(5) exposure and hypertension and metabolic syndrome among Ghanaian adults.

Long-term PM2.5 exposure is linked to a 50% higher likelihood of hypertension among Ghanaian adults aged 40-60 years.

• Why it matters: Understanding environmental risk factors for cardiovascular disease in sub-Saharan Africa is limited, and identifying such links can inform prevention strategies.
• What they did: A cross-sectional study of 1833 Ghanaian adults used satellite-based models to estimate PM2.5 exposure from 2007-2015 and applied multivariable logistic regression to assess associations with metabolic syndrome and its components.
• The result: Each 1 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 was associated with a 6% rise in hypertension odds, with a population attributable fraction of 18.6%, but no association was found with metabolic syndrome overall or its other components.