Examining the interplay between air pollution, surface vegetation cover, and stroke prevalence in East Africa: An ecological perspective

This study examines the impact of PM _2.5 , SO ₂ , O ₃ , CO, and surface greenness on stroke-related mortality rates in East Africa. Results showed a positive correlation between air pollutants of PM _2.5 and SO ₂ with stroke prevalence, and a negative association between Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and stroke fatality prevalence. The linear regression model showed that an increase of 10% in EVI could lead to the reduction of stroke-related deaths by 845.57 ± 295.96 deaths per 100,000 persons. Also, a 1 µg/m ³ increase of PM _2.5 and SO ₂ concentrations predicted a corresponding increase of stroke-related death by 3.06 ± 1.25 and 139.28 ± 64.33 deaths per 100,000 persons, respectively. Furthermore, the analysis of the influence of these environmental variables on the prevalence of mortality attributable to stroke by age groups showed its rise with age, both in intensity and statistical significance. For instance, a rise of 10% in EVI predicted the reduction of the stroke-related death rate by 9.18 ± 6.45 and 2133.93 ± 701.07 deaths per 100,000 persons in the age groups of 20–29 and 70–79 years old, respectively. A rise in 1 µg/m ³ of PM _2.5 and SO ₂ is expected to trigger the mortality incident rise from 0.05 ± 0.03 to 7.77 ± 3.01 and 4.28 ± 1.40 to 426.21 ± 152.38 deaths per 100,000 persons in respective age groups of 20–29 and 70–79 years. The exposure to CO and O ₃ did not demonstrate a significant effect on the stroke-related death rate in the region for the period of the study.