Abstract

This study analyzes the critical episode management program (GEC) on respiratory diseases in some cities in south-central Chile between 2013 and 2019. Daily data from emergency room admissions for six respiratory diseases, concentrations of respirable particulate matter (PM10), temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, wind speed, and different types of critical episodes decreed are used. The results obtained with the differences-in-differences technique show that the daily concentrations of PM10 do not generate significant increases in emergency room admissions for the diseases analyzed. However, emergency room admissions for influenza and pneumonia increase when certain pollution thresholds measured by the air quality index are exceeded. Besides, the GEC program only reduces emergency room admissions for bronchial obstructive crisis, which are not affected by pollution. Specifically, decreeing alert, pre-emergency, and emergency reduces daily emergency room admissions for bronchial obstructive crisis by 4.4 +/- 0.9, 4.4 +/- 1.3, and 5.2 +/- 1.5, respectively. Thus, the GEC program's contribution to improving some respiratory health indicators could be attributed to avoidance behavior in the population and would not be related to air quality changes.