Association of change in air quality with hospital admission for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Guangdong, China: A province-wide ecological study

●The Guangdong province-wide interventional regulation on air pollution is effective.●Association of air quality with hospital admissions for AECOPD is further confirmed.●Reduction in PM and SO2 may particularly lead to declined attributable AECOPD admissions.●O3 has emerged as an important risk factor for incidence of AECOPD.●Principal component analysis is useful in determining major air pollutants.