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LONDON, March 28 – High levels of air pollution in England and Wales have been badociated with adolescent psychotic experiences, such as hearing loud voices and paranoia, have said scientists yesterday, while the poor quality of air in British cities is subject to scrutiny.
Researchers at King's College London reported that children and adolescents living in a city were twice as likely to have psychotic experiences as those living in rural areas. They described their study as the first of its kind in the country.
"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. "
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 from 2012, when children would have had about 17 years.
About 30% of children reported having at least one psychotic experience between the ages of 12 and 18, with the highest rates seen in cities with high levels of nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and nitrogen oxides. tiny particles of air pollution, such as dust and smoke.
Children were asked questions such as "Have you ever thought about being watched, followed or spied on?" And "Do you hear voices that others can not hear?
After clinical evaluation by experts, it was found that only 2.9% of children had at least one psychotic symptom aged 12 to 18 years.
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.
In an editorial published with the study, it is stated that while the results contribute to an understanding of the effects of pollution by researchers, 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 United Nations predicting that two-thirds of the world's population will live in a city by 2050, it is crucial to continue research into the health effects of air pollution, the co-author of the report said. study, Frank Kelly.
"Children and young people are the most vulnerable to the effects of air pollution on health because of the youth of the brain and the 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. – Thomson Reuters Foundation
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