fa عمومى General پژوهشي Research <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Background:</strong> Air pollution is one of the most important factors threatening the health of&nbsp;citizens. It increases the prevalence of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases as well as&nbsp;emergency admissions to hospitals in the polluted metropolitan cities. The present study was&nbsp;conducted using Air Quality (AirQ) model and aimed to investigate the effects of air pollution&nbsp;on the number of emergency cardiovascular and respiratory patients admissions in Tehran&nbsp;hospitals during 2005-2014.<br> <strong>Materials and Methods:</strong> This was cross-sectional study. First, the needed hourly information&nbsp;was received from the Bureau of Air Quality Control, and the Environmental Protection&nbsp;Agency of Tehran City. Then, the information was validated according to WHO criteria, and&nbsp;the statistical indicators and the stages required to quantify the harmful effects of air pollutants&nbsp;were calculated by using appropriate application.<br> <strong>Results:</strong> According to the results, the number of cases admitted to the emergency ward of&nbsp;hospitals due to heart diseases (by exposure to particulate matter) during the years 2005 to&nbsp;2014 were respectively 1797, 1280, 1766, 1980, 2132, 2703, 2389, 2594, 2158, and 2291&nbsp;cases, totaling 20990 persons, and for respiratory diseases (due to exposure to particulate&nbsp;matter) during the same years were respectively 4643, 3301, 4650, 5117, 5511, 6999, 6180,&nbsp;6452, 5577, and 5922 cases, totaling 54352 people. Also, the number of cases admitted to&nbsp;the emergency wards of hospitals due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease caused by&nbsp;exposure to emissions of pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone were&nbsp;respectively, 1806, 2454, and 2941 cases.<br> <strong>Conclusion:</strong> Air pollution in Tehran increases the load of emergency visits to hospitals and&nbsp;increases the risk of respiratory and heart diseases. Therefore, measures to reduce and control&nbsp;air pollution and to prepare, equip, and mobilize hospitals, particularly emergency wards, are&nbsp;among important priorities that should be pursued seriously by the authorities.</p> Air pollution, Emergency admission, Heart diseases, Respiratory diseases, Particulate matter 137 146 http://hdq.uswr.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-25-5&slc_lang=fa&sid=1 Majid Kermani No Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Mohsen Dowlati mohsendowlati.69@gmail.com Yes Research Center for Environmental Health Technology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Ahmad Jonidi Ja`fari No Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Roshanak Rezaei Kalantari No Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Fazeleh Sadat Sakhaei No Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.