Development of a conjunctivitis outpatient rate prediction model incorporating ambient ozone and meteorological factors in South Korea

Ozone (O₃) is a commonly known air pollutant that causes adverse health effects. This study developed a multi-level prediction model for conjunctivitis in outpatients due to exposure to O₃ by using 3 years of ambient O₃ data, meteorological data, and hospital data in Seoul, South Korea. We confirmed that the rate of conjunctivitis in outpatients (conjunctivitis outpatient rate) was highly correlated with O₃ (R² = 0.49), temperature (R² = 0.72), and relative humidity (R² = 0.29). A multi-level regression model for the conjunctivitis outpatient rate was well-developed, on the basis of sex and age, by adding statistical factors. This model will contribute to the prediction of conjunctivitis outpatient rate for each sex and age, using O₃ and meteorological data.