Exposure to wildfire smoke is associated with an increase in visits to the emergency department for depression, anxiety, and mood disorders, a new California study suggests.
TOPLINE: Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from the 2020 California wildfires was linked to an increase in mental health-related emergency department (ED) visits within 7 days of exposure, including increases of 8% for all-cause mental health, 15% for depression, and 29% for other mood-affective disorders, a new study showed. METHODOLOGY: Data for nearly 87,000 ED visits related to mental health conditions by California residents (median age, 38 years; 53% men) from July 2020 through December 2020 were obtained from the Department of Health Care Access and Information. ED visits included those for all-cause mental disorders, psychoactive substance use disorders, non-mood psychotic disorders, anxiety, depression, and other mood-affective disorders. The investigators analyzed wildfire-specific PM2.5 exposure with up to 7-day lags based on participants' residential zip codes. Covariate data included wildfire, climate, air pollution, population, and socioeconomic status, obtained from state and federal sources. TAKEAWAY: A 10-μg/m 3 increase in the wildfire-specific PM2.5 level was associated with increased ED visits for all-cause mental health conditions (cumulative relative risk [cRR], 1.08; 95% CI, 1.03-1.12), depression (cRR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.02-1.30), and other mood-affective disorders (cRR, 1.29; 95% CI,…