Smoky skies? Here are the best ways to check air quality near you

June 9, 2023

During wildfire season, Californians have grown accustomed to checking two numbers: AQI and PMI. The first is the air quality index, or the general quality of the air, and it’s typically measured on a scale from 0 to 500.

The Environmental Protection Agency says an AQI value above 101 is unhealthy for some people and above 151 is unhealthy for everyone. In New York City on Wednesday, June 7, AQI levels reached upward of 300, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The second reading, PMI, refers to the size of particles in the air. Doctors say prolongedexposure to particles with a diameter less than 2.5 micrometers—referred to as PM2.5—is a health risk.

Now, Americans on the Eastern Seaboard have reason to monitor these same indicators. Many already are constantly looking at the usual sites and weather apps, which provide some air-quality info.

According to the Journal, the following are the best tools to use:

AirNow: This EPA website reports current air quality around the country. There’s also a free mobile app for iOS and Android devices. To add a shortcut to your area in the app, tap on the Places tab, then New Place. To get AirNow data via voice command, ask your Alexa smart speaker, Google device, or Android phone, “What is the air quality?”
Apple Weather: The iPhone’s built-in app includes the current AQI and a map. Tap the air quality module (not the map) and scroll down to Primary Pollutant for details about the particle size. The data is provided by BreezoMeter, an environmental intelligence service acquired by Google last year. (Yep, Apple uses Google-owned data.)
Google Maps: On the Google Maps app for iOS and Android, you can get neighborhood-level readings. The data provider, PurpleAir, runs a network of individually owned Wi-Fi-enabled sensors. Open the app, then tap on the layers icon. Select Air Quality to view readings. The Google Maps app for Android and iOS provides neighborhood-by-neighborhood AQI readings using data from PurpleAir and AirNow.
AirVisual: The AirVisual iOS and Android mobile app is produced by monitoring company IQAir, a partner of the United Nations Environment Program. It shows AQI and PMI, as well as a seven-day forecast, using official government sources and individuals with IQAir devices. In settings, under Notifications, you can set alerts to tell you when air quality in your area is deteriorating. AirVisual’s app shows AQI and PMI information and can give a seven-day forecast using official government sources and individuals with IQAir devices.
National Weather Service: The National Weather Service regularly tweets wildfire updates, air quality, and health recommendations. You can find the account for your region and other forecast offices around the country at weather.gov/twitter.
Indoor AQI Sensors: To determine the air quality inside your home, you’ll need a separate device. Amazon’s $70 Smart Air Quality Monitor feeds readings to your Alexa app. The $100 Eve Room works with Apple’s HomeKit. Many smart air filters include their own sensors. The $349 Mila measures airborne particulates, carbon monoxide and more, and lets you monitor the data remotely from its iOS or Android app.

Research contact: @WSJ

Sepember 12, 2024

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in back in September 2016 that one in four Medicare participants age 65 or older—that’s 5 million people—do not take their blood pressure medicine as directed. In fact, 20% to 30% of prescriptions for chronic health conditions are never filled, and about half are not taken as prescribed, reports the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

Patients’ failure to follow their medical treatment regimens is a common and costly problem with potentially dire consequences. A 2012 study by the American College of Preventive Medicine found that nonadherence accounted for an estimated 125,000 deaths annually and at least 10% of hospitalizations. The repercussions also cost the U.S. health system as much as $300 billion a year, according to a 2014 study by Johns Hopkins University researchers.

Depending on the patient, provider, and situation, contributing factors may include the patient’s social and economic status or education level, the complexity of the treatment and instructions, health system variables, poor provider communication, patient depression or stress, or physical or financial obstacles to drug access.

Patients may also stop taking a medication if they experience unpleasant side effects, are not seeing any immediate benefit from the therapy, or if they simply grow tired of taking pills.

medicine we have a blind spot,” said Victor Montori, M.D., an endocrinologist and professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic. “Being a patient—especially being a patient with a chronic condition—is a lot of work.” And there’s no curriculum about the work of being a patient, he noted.

Adherence rates haven’t changed significantly in the past three decades, despite efforts by the World Health Organization and the Institute of Medicine to address the problem, according to the American College of Preventive Medicine.

In addition to poorer patient outcomes, hospitals now also suffer the costs of readmission penalties for Medicare patients who return to the hospital because they haven’t followed a doctor’s instructions.

There’s no one-size-fits-all remedy for this problem: physicians and health systems can support adherence in a combination of ways.

At Mayo’s Knowledge and Evaluation Research Unit, Montori focuses on “minimally disruptive medicine” that is designed not to overburden patients. He said clinicians often are unaware of the cumulative effects of what they ask patients to do. Montori noted, for example, that patients may have to go through several bureaucratic steps and pharmacy trips to refill each maintenance prescription.

Montori suggests that healthcare systems focus treatment on the goals patients and clinicians agree to achieve, “and then make sure in the process that we don’t overwhelm [the patients].” In some cases, it’s virtually impossible for patients to do all that their providers ask, Montori says. “Are the treatments, tests, appointments, that we’re asking people to go through, are they really necessary?” he asked. “If we medicalize every moment of their lives, patients will struggle.”

In addition to being more judicious about how many appointments are necessary, the healthcare team can make it easier for patients by trying to bundle appointments or procedures on the same day, he suggests. Or clinicians can help mobilize social resources for patients who need help with housing, food, or addictions—factors that can affect their ability to maintain a treatment regimen, Montori said.

Prescribing more affordable generic drugs, simplifying dosages, synchronizing refills, and finding ways to reduce pharmacy trips may reduce the burden on patients as well, Montori adds. Or, if the patient has stopped taking a medication because of unpleasant side effects, the physician can work with the pharmacist to find an alternative.

At NYU School of Medicine, Adina Kalet, MD, MPH, professor of medicine and surgery and codirector of the Program on Medical Education Innovation and Research, is exploring the use of a Patient Empowerment Program to help patients become more active partners in their care. In a current study, she and colleagues are training patients with diabetes to better communicate with physicians during two two-hour sessions.

So far, said Kalet, “it does what we are hoping it [would do]…. It changes the dynamic in the doctor’s office. We’ve had nothing but positive responses from physicians about how much more satisfying it is to be able to engage as partners with patients.”

For Steven Feldman, MD, PhD, professor of Dermatology, Pathology, and Public Health Sciences at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, close follow-up and establishing trust with patients are the keys to patient adherence. Prescribing a drug and then following up in 8 weeks to 12 weeks is not enough to ensure compliance, he says.

“Doctors are the only people on the planet who have the idea that you can tell people, ‘Here, work on this every day and I’ll see you in two or three months.’”

Feldman has found that being a caring provider leads to better patient accountability. When prescribing a new treatment, for example, he writes his mobile phone number on a business card and tells his patient to call in three days to report on progress. “That adds to their trust in me, which adds to their trust in the medicine,” Feldman says.

Wake Forest has spun off a company based on Feldman’s adherence-improvement methods, asking patients to report their treatment status through online surveys. Using that approach, acne patients doubled their adherence to treatments.

Providers may do well to remember that the intangible can be invaluable. “It is the relationship between the doctor and patient that drives the compliance,” says Helen Shields, MD, associate chief of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Division of Medical Communications.

“I believe strongly that patients are more compliant if they trust you, believe you, and if they can understand what you’re saying.”

Research contact: @AAMCtoday