The Role of Cognition in the Association Between Early-life Air Pollution Exposure and Subclinical Psychotic Experiences in Bristol: A Cohort study

Abstract

Introduction: This study examines the relationship between air pollution, cognitive ability and psychotic symptoms in adolescents. Exposure to air pollution can cause different types of diseases/disorders and affect people's cognitive ability.

Methods: This study is a longitudinal cohort study. The population is Bristol citizens and the sample was derived from them using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort data. The sample size is 2807 participants with complete data. Air pollution, cognitive ability and psychotic experiences were measured at different ages of the child, during pregnancy, at the age of 8 and at the age of 18, respectively. Logistic and linear regressions were used to test the relationships between the variables.

Results: 62% of the people with psychotic symptoms are female and 92% of them are white. The estimate of the relationship between air pollution and cognitive ability after adjusting for the confounders was 0.57 (95% CI= -0.12 – 1.25, p=0.11). Moreover, the estimate of the relationship between cognitive ability and psychotic experiences is 0.99 (95% CI= 0.98-1.00, p= 0.20). Finally, the estimated relationship between air pollution and psychotic experiences was 1.19 (95% CI= 0.99-1.42, p= 0.058).

Discussion: The number of the female in the group with psychotic symptoms was more than the number of the male in the same group. The results showed not enough evidences against null hypotheses of the relationships that there are no relationships between them. The results are inconsistent with the literature.