Air pollution and health effects in communities near industrial areas are matters of concern in Thailand. Elevated air pollution concentrations are associated with morbidity and mortality arising from lower respiratory tract illness. In this study, we aimed to assess whether living in a community near a new industrial estate in Central Thailand was associated with an elevated incidence of lower respiratory tract illness (LRTI) among the elderly. We used data on hospital admissions from a primary hospital and sub-district-level health-promoting hospitals in six sub-districts located within a radius of 5 km from the industrial estate, between 1 November 2023 and 31 March 2024, using a cross-sectional study design. There were 1311 elderly individuals living within a radius of 3 km and 1488 between 3 and 5 km. We found a statistically significant increased risk of hospitalization for LRTI in the elderly living within a radius of less than 3 km (odds ratio: 3.43 [95% CI: 1.61–7.36] compared to those living in a radius between 3 and 5 km. Our results provide strong support for an association between hospitalization for LRTI and living distance from a new industrial estate.

Air pollution and health effects in communities near industrial areas are a matter of con-cern in Thailand. Elevated air pollution concentrations are associated with morbidity and mortality arising from the lower respiratory tract. In this study, we aimed to assess if liv-ing in a community near a new industrial estate in central Thailand was associated with an elevated incidence of lower respiratory tract illness (LRTI) among the elderly. We used data on hospital admissions from a primary hospital and sub-district health promoting hospitals in six sub-districts located within a radius of 5 kilometers from the industrial estate between 1st November 2023 and 31st March 2024, using a cross-sectional study de-sign. There were 1,311 elderly are living within a radius of 3 kilometers and 1,488 between 3 and 5 kilometers. We found a statistically significant increased risk of hospitalization for LRTI in the elderly living within a radius of less than 3 kilometers (odds ratio 3.43 [95%CI: 1.61- 7.36]), compared to those living in a radius between 3 and 5 kilometers. Our results provide strong support for the associations between hospitalization for LRTI and living distance from the new industrial estate.