A decreasing trend in IS incidence was noted (Kendall τ = −0.689, p = 0.005), with the highest number of cases recorded in 2013 (10,033) and the lowest in 2020 (9006), while the use of IVT increased from 3.2% in 2011 to 18.3% in 2020 (Kendall τ = 0.956, p < 0.001).
However, direct comparisons of effect sizes revealed a numerical trend indicating higher vulnerability in females and non-elderly subjects, but these differences were not statistically significant between sexes or age groups.
The remaining air pollutants did not demonstrate a significant trend over the analyzed time period.
However, studies are consistent in showing that the estimated costs of air pollution are astonishing amounted globally to 8.1 trillion USD in 2019, equivalent to 6.1% of the global gross domestic product (GDP) with an increasing trend [ 41 ].