To fill this gap, we conducted a comprehensive scoping review of the literature with a focus on health outcomes affected by outdoor air pollution. To our knowledge, few studies have systematically reviewed the literature in the broad field of outdoor air pollution exposure research, especially with regard to related health outcomes. Comparing this approach with other knowledge synthesis methods, such as evidence gap map and rapid review, the scoping review has become increasingly influential for efficient evidence-based decision-making because it offers a very broad topic scope. As an evidence synthesis approach that is still in the midst of development, the methodology framework for scoping reviews faces some controversy with regard to its conceptual clarification and definition, the necessity of quality assessment, and the time required for completion. Scoping reviews have already been used to examine a variety of health related issues. It is often used to systematically summarize the evidence available (main sources, types, and research characteristics), and it tends to be more comprehensive and helpful to policymakers at all levels. In comparison, scoping review is a more narrative type of knowledge synthesis, and it focuses on a broader area of the evidence pertaining to a given topic. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses, the most commonly used traditional approach to synthesize knowledge, use quantified data from relevant published studies in order to aggregate findings on a specific topic furthermore, they formally assesses the quality of these studies to generate precise conclusions related to the focused research question. Thus, such research gaps need to be identified, and related fields of study need to be mapped. However, few studies in the existing literature have examined the extent, range, and nature of the influence of outdoor air pollution with regard to human health outcomes. Some causal inference studies have been conducted to examine these situations these have indicated that an increase in outdoor air exposure affects people’s health outcomes both directly and indirectly. The influence of outdoor air pollution exposure and its mechanisms continue to be hotly debated. Moreover, it is widely acknowledged that outdoor air pollution increases the incidence rates of multiple diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, respiratory symptoms, asthma, negatively affected pregnancy, and poor birth outcomes. In some developing countries, the concentrations of air quality far exceed the upper limit announced in the World Health Organization guidelines. In recent years, despite considerable improvements in air pollution prevention and control, outdoor air pollution has remained a major environmental health hazard to human beings. In conclusion, this scoping review provides researchers and policy decision makers with evidence taken from multiple disciplines to show the increasing prevalence of outdoor air pollution and its adverse effects on health outcomes. The main limitation of this study is its potential language bias, since only English publications were included. Based on our study, we suggest that the time frame of the included studies, their disease definitions, and the measurement of personal exposure to outdoor air pollution should be taken into consideration in any future research. Out of the total included studies, 95.2% reported at least one statistically positive result, and only 0.4% showed ambiguous results. Adverse health outcomes involving respiratory diseases among children accounted for the largest group.
Among the eight categorized health outcomes, asthma (category: respiratory diseases) and mortality (category: health records) were the most common ones. The included studies showed an increasing publication trend from 1992 to 2008, and most of the studies were conducted in Asia, Europe, and North America. Of the 5759 potentially relevant studies, 799 were included in the final analysis.
To identify the potential research gaps, we conducted a scoping review focused on health outcomes affected by outdoor air pollution across the broad research area.
Despite considerable air pollution prevention and control measures that have been put into practice in recent years, outdoor air pollution remains one of the most important risk factors for health outcomes.
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