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High levels of air pollution in England and Wales could be linked to psychotic experiences among teenagers, scientists said Wednesday, as poor air quality in British cities has made the news. subject to careful examination.
"We found that psychotic experiences in adolescents were more common in urban areas," said Joanne Newbury, lead author of the article, published in the newspaper. JAMA Psychiatry. "Although the study can not show that pollutants cause psychotic experiences in adolescents, our results suggest that air pollution may be a contributing factor in the link between city life and the psychotic experiences. "
The researchers used data from a two-decade study of more than 2,200 British children born in 1994-1995 and compared them to national air pollution data for 2012, when these children would have had about 17 years.
The authors screened what they called "psychotic experiences" between 12 and 18 years old. They were asked questions such as: "Have you ever thought about being monitored, followed or spied on?" and "Do you hear voices that others can not?"
About 30% of children had positive responses to screening questions. After clinical evaluation by experts, it was found that 2.9% of children had at least one psychotic symptom aged 12 to 18 years. Positive response rates to the highest screening questions have been observed in cities with high levels of nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxides and tiny polluting particles, such as dust and smoke.
The scientists said that young people with psychotic experiences are more likely to develop serious psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia or other mental health problems, including suicide attempts. Earlier this month, the United Nations (UN) declared that air pollution should be considered a human rights issue, causing 7 million premature deaths a year worldwide, including 600,000 among the children.
The researchers said their findings did not indicate that greater air pollution was causing psychotic experiences and that there could be a problem. other contributing factors, such as noise pollution and an increase in the level of stress, that they have not examined.
An editorial published with the study indicates that, while the results allow researchers to better understand the effects of pollution, the study included "significant limitations". "The results (…) should be interpreted with caution, because in this specific study, the total badociation of urbanism (…) with psychotic disorders was not statistically significant", did he declare.
Yet, with the UN predicting that two-thirds of the world's population will live in a city by 2050, it is crucial to continue research into the effects of air pollution on health, said Frank Kelly , co-author of the study. "Children and young people are the most vulnerable to the effects of air pollution on health because of the youthful brain and respiratory system," said Kelly, professor of environmental health at King's College London. "The discovery of the mechanisms linking the urban environment to psychosis should be an urgent priority for health."
In January, Great Britain pledged to become the first major economy to adopt air quality targets based on the recommendations of the World Health Organization, as it strives to eliminate gradually diesel cars.
-Lin Taylor
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