Altitude above 1500 m is a major determinant of asthma incidence. An ecological study

Previous studies suggest an inverse correlation between asthma and altitude. In the present work, we performed an in-depth analysis of asthma incidence in the 758 Mexican counties covered by the largest medical institution in the country (∼37.5 million insured subjects), and evaluated its relationsh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Respiratory medicine 2018-02, Vol.135, p.1-7
Main Authors: Vargas, Mario H., Becerril-Ángeles, Martín, Medina-Reyes, Ismael Seth, Rascón-Pacheco, Ramón Alberto
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Altitude
Asthma
Asthma - diagnosis
Asthma - epidemiology
Asthma incidence
Bisphenol A
Bivariate analysis
Child
Child, Preschool
Correlation analysis
Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus
Diabetes mellitus (non-insulin dependent)
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - epidemiology
Disease control
Ecological monitoring
Ecological studies
Ecological study
Economic factors
Ecosystem
Epidemiology
Geography
Helminthiasis
Humans
Hypotheses
Incidence
Infections
Medical personnel
Mexico - epidemiology
Multivariate analysis
Obesity - epidemiology
Patients
Pharyngotonsillitis
Physicians
Population
Regression analysis
Respiratory tract
Respiratory tract diseases
Respiratory Tract Infections - epidemiology
Respiratory Tract Infections - microbiology
Respiratory Tract Infections - parasitology
Risk Factors
Social exclusion
Social factors
Socioeconomic Factors
Socioeconomics
Systematic review
Trends
Tuberculosis
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Summary:Previous studies suggest an inverse correlation between asthma and altitude. In the present work, we performed an in-depth analysis of asthma incidence in the 758 Mexican counties covered by the largest medical institution in the country (∼37.5 million insured subjects), and evaluated its relationships with altitude and other factors. Asthma incidence in each county was calculated from new cases diagnosed by family physicians. Other variables in the same counties, including selected diseases, geographical variables, and socioeconomic factors, were also obtained and their association with asthma was evaluated through bivariate and multivariate analyses. Median asthma incidence was 296.2 × 100,000 insured subjects, but tended to be higher in those counties located on or near the coast. When asthma incidence was plotted against altitude, a two-stage pattern was evident: asthma rates were relatively stable in counties located below an altitude of ∼1500 m, while these rates progressively decreased as altitude increased beyond this level (rS = −0.51, p 
ISSN:0954-6111
1532-3064
DOI:10.1016/j.rmed.2017.12.010