Impacts of heat and cold on hospitalizations for schizophrenia in Hefei, China: An assessment of disease burden

• Published in: The Science of the total environment 2019-12, Vol.694, p.133582, Article 133582
• Main Authors: Pan, Rubing, Zhang, Xulai, Gao, Jiaojiao, Yi, Weizhuo, Wei, Qiannan, Xu, Zihan, Duan, Jun, Bai, Lijun, Cheng, Qiang, Zhang, Yanwu, Su, Hong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Ambient temperature; China - epidemiology; Climate change; Cold Temperature; Cost of Illness; Disease burden; Environmental Exposure - statistics & numerical data; Female; Hospitalization; Hot Temperature; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Schizophrenia - epidemiology; Schizophrenia hospitalizations; Seasonal; Temperature
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.133582

Compared with risk data (e.g., RR or OR), attributable fraction (AF) provides more information on the formulation of policies and measures in the field of public health. However, to date, existing AF evidence is scarce for the relationship between temperature and the hospitalizations for SCZ. Our primary goal is to estimate the attributable burden of hospitalizations for SCZ related to cold and heat, respectively. Furthermore, to identify vulnerable populations due to heat and cold. Poisson generalized linear models combined with DLNMs were used to estimate the association between hospitalizations for SCZ and temperature from 2005 to 2014. The minimum risk temperature (MRT) was used as a reference, to calculate the burden of disease caused by cold and heat. We found that the majority hospitalizations attributed to heat (70.9%). In different individual levels, men are more sensitive to heat exposure while women are more vulnerable to cold. Among different age groups, the results showed that the attributable risk was slightly higher in the over-40s than in the under-40s. Besides, under different marital conditions, it showed that the unmarried had a little higher attributional risk than the married. We should pay attention to the impact of heat on hospitalizations for SCZ, especially in those over 40 years old, men and non-married. Our research will provide a basis for policymakers to develop intervention strategies to minimize the impact of adverse temperatures on hospitalizations for SCZ, thereby reducing the burden of disease. [Display omitted] •This is the first time to assess the risk of schizophrenia attributable to temperature in different seasons.•Heat effects are primarily responsible for the disease burden of SCZ in Hefei.•People over 40 years old, men and non-married appeared to be more vulnerable to heat effects.