| (i)
|
To
acquire data on daily hospital admissions for respiratory
and cardiovascular diseases in major hospitals of the
Hospital Authority in Hong Kong and air quality and meteorological
data, provided by the Environmental Protection Department
(EPD) from 1994 to mid-1996; |
| |
|
| (ii)
|
To
correlate hospital admissions and mortalities due to respiratory
and cardiovascular diseases in these hospitals from 1994
to 1995 with daily air pollutant concentrations, adjusting
for meteorological factors, seasonal patterns and time
trends; |
| |
|
| (iii)
|
To
develop an appropriate statistical model which characterizes
significant associations between air quality and hospital
admission parameters; |
| |
|
| (iv)
|
Based
on (iii) above, make recommendations on the use of a "Acute
Health Effects Index" (AHEI) to quantify the effect of
ambient air quality parameters on hospital admissions
for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases; |
| |
|
| (v)
|
To
validate the statistical model developed in (iii) and
the AHEI against available hospital admission and air
pollution data for the first half-year of 1996. |
| |
|
| (vi)
|
To
interpret the findings in the light of similar studies
conducted overseas. |
|