Numerous studies have been conducted in other countries on the health effects of exposure to particulate matter with a diameter of 10 microns or less $$PM_{10}$$ , but little research has been conducted in Malaysia, particularly during the haze season. This study intends to investigate how exposure of $$PM_{10}$$ influenced hospital admissions for respiratory diseases during the haze period in peninsula Malaysia and it was further stratified by age group, gender and respiratory diseases categories. The study includes data from all patients with respiratory diseases in 92 government hospitals, as well as $$PM_{10}$$ concentration and meteorological data from 92 monitoring stations in Peninsula Malaysia starting from 1st January 2000 to 31st December 2019. A quasi-poison time series regression with distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) was employed in this study to examine the relationship between exposure of $$PM_{10}$$ and hospital admissions for respiratory diseases during the haze period. Haze period for this study has been defined from June to September each year. According to the findings of this study, $$PM_{10}$$ was positively associated with hospitalisation of respiratory disease within 30 lag days under various lag patterns, with lag 25 showing the strongest association (RR = 1.001742, CI 1.001029,1.002456). Using median as a reference, it was discovered that females were more likely than males to be hospitalized for $$PM_{10}$$ exposure. Working age group will be the most affected by the increase in $$PM_{10}$$ exposure with a significant cumulative RR from lag 010 to lag 030. The study found that $$PM_{10}$$ had a significant influence on respiratory hospitalisation in peninsula Malaysia, particularly for lung diseases caused by external agents(CD5). Therefore, it is important to implement effective intervention measures to control $$PM_{10}$$ and reduce the burden of respiratory disease admissions.