The Association between Household Air Pollution and Blood Pressure in Obuasi Municipality, Ghana
Theresa Tawiah,
Matthew Shupler,
Stephaney Gyaase,
Rachel Anderson de Cuevas,
Jason Saah,
Emily Nix,
Mieks Twumasi,
Reginald Quansah,
Elisa Puzzolo,
Daniel Pope,
Kwaku Poku Asante
Affiliations
Theresa Tawiah
Kintampo Health Research Centre, Research and Development Division of Ghana Health Service, Kintampo P.O. Box 200, Ghana
Matthew Shupler
Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZX, UK
Stephaney Gyaase
Kintampo Health Research Centre, Research and Development Division of Ghana Health Service, Kintampo P.O. Box 200, Ghana
Rachel Anderson de Cuevas
Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZX, UK
Jason Saah
Kintampo Health Research Centre, Research and Development Division of Ghana Health Service, Kintampo P.O. Box 200, Ghana
Emily Nix
Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZX, UK
Mieks Twumasi
Kintampo Health Research Centre, Research and Development Division of Ghana Health Service, Kintampo P.O. Box 200, Ghana
Reginald Quansah
Biological, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra P.O. Box LG 1181, Ghana
Elisa Puzzolo
Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZX, UK
Daniel Pope
Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZX, UK
Kwaku Poku Asante
Kintampo Health Research Centre, Research and Development Division of Ghana Health Service, Kintampo P.O. Box 200, Ghana
Emerging evidence suggests a possible link between exposure to household air pollution (HAP) from a reliance on polluting solid fuels (SFs) (e.g., wood and charcoal) for cooking and high blood pressure. As part of the CLEAN-Air(Africa) project, we measured the blood pressure among 350 cooks in Obuasi Municipality, Ghana after 24 h exposure to particulate matter (PM2.5) from the combustion of either solid fuels (n = 35) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) (n = 35). Multinomial regression models were used to describe the relationship between different stages of blood pressure (mmHg) and the respondents’ main fuel type used, adjusting for key covariates. A linear regression model was used to describe the relationship between personal exposure to PM2.5 and the respondent’s systolic as well as diastolic blood pressure, adjusting for key covariates. Blood pressure was higher in cooks using SFs for cooking than in those using LPG. A significant exposure–response relationship was not observed between increasing exposure to PM2.5 and increasing blood pressure (systolic: β = −2.42, 95% CI: −8.65, 3.80, p-value = 0.438, and diastolic: β = −0.32, 95% CI: −5.09; 4.45, p-value = 0.893).
