Physiological equivalent temperature (PET) and non-accidental, cardiovascular and respiratory disease mortality in Ahvaz, Iran

• Published in: Environmental geochemistry and health 2022-08, Vol.44 (8), p.2767-2782
• Main Authors: Dastoorpoor, Maryam, Khodadadi, Narges, Masoumi, Kambiz, Khanjani, Narges, Idani, Esmaeil, Borsi, Seyed Hamid, Goudarzi, Gholamreza, Raji, Hanieh, Sharafkhani, Rahim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air pollution; Cardiovascular diseases; Cerebrovascular diseases; Climate change; Coronary artery disease; Diseases; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Equivalence; Geochemistry; Health risks; Heart diseases; Heat stress; Heat tolerance; Ischemia; Men; Morbidity; Mortality; Nitrogen dioxide; Older people; Original Paper; Particulate matter; Physiology; Pollutants; Public Health; Regression analysis; Respiratory diseases; Risk; Soil Science & Conservation; Sulfur dioxide; Temperature; Terrestrial Pollution
• ISSN: 0269-4042; 1573-2983
• DOI: 10.1007/s10653-021-01063-1

Climate change may be associated with human morbidity and mortality through direct and indirect effects. Ahvaz is one of the hottest cities in the world. The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) and non-accidental, cardiovascular and respiratory disease mortality in Ahvaz, Iran. Distributed Lag Non-linear Models (DLNM) combined with quasi-Poisson regression were used to investigate the effect of PET on death. The effect of time trend, air pollutants (NO 2 , SO 2 and PM 10 ), and weekdays were adjusted.The results showed that in cold stress [1st percentile of PET (2.7 °C) relative to 25th percentile (11.9 °C)] the risk of total respiratory mortality, respiratory mortality in men, and mortality in people under 65 year olds, significantly decreased in the cumulative lags of 0–2, 0–6 and 0–13; but the risk of respiratory mortality increased in the elderly and in the final lags. In contrast, heat stress [99th percentile of PET (44.9 °C) relative to 75th percentile (43.4 °C)] significantly increased the risk of total cardiovascular mortality (CVD), cardiovascular mortality in men, ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease mortality in lags 0 and 0–2. It seems that high PET values increase the risk of cardiovascular mortality, while low PET values increase respiratory mortality only among the elderly in Ahvaz.