The effects of extreme temperatures on emergency room visits—a population-based analysis by age, sex, and comorbidity

• Published in: International journal of biometeorology 2021-12, Vol.65 (12), p.2087-2098
• Main Authors: Lin, Yu-Kai, Zafirah, Yasmin, Ke, Meng-Ting, Andhikaputra, Gerry, Wang, Yu-Chun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Ambient temperature; Animal Physiology; Biological and Medical Physics; Biophysics; Cardiovascular diseases; Cerebrovascular disease; Cerebrovascular diseases; Confidence intervals; Coronary artery disease; Earth and Environmental Science; Emergency medical care; Emergency medical services; Environment; Environmental Health; Extreme cold; Extreme heat; Extreme high temperatures; Extreme low temperatures; Heart diseases; High temperature; Hypertension; Ischemia; Kidney diseases; Low temperature; Males; Meteorology; Original Paper; Plant Physiology; Population studies; Risk; Sex; Subpopulations; Temperature effects; Temperature extremes
• ISSN: 0020-7128; 1432-1254
• DOI: 10.1007/s00484-021-02166-1

This study evaluated the effect of extreme temperatures on events requiring emergency room visits (ERVs) for hypertensive disease, ischemic heart disease (IHD), cerebrovascular disease, and chronic kidney disease (CKD) for population stratified by sex and age living in Taiwan’s metropolitan city from 2000 to 2014. The distributed lag non-linear model was adopted to examine the association between ambient temperature and area-age-sex-disease-specific ERVs for a population aged 40 years and above. The reference temperature was defined by a percentile value to describe the temperature in each city. Area-age-sex-disease-specific relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated in association with extreme high (99th percentile) and low (5th percentile) temperatures. Temperature-related ERV risks varied by area, age, sex, and disease. Patients with CKD tend to have comorbidities with hypertensive disease. All study populations with hypertensive disease have significant risk associations with extreme low temperatures with the highest RR of 2.64 (95% CI: 2.08, 3.36) appearing in New Taipei City. The risk of IHD was significantly associated with extreme high temperature for male subpopulation aged 40–64 years. A less significant association was observed between the risks of cerebrovascular disease with extreme temperature. The risk of CKD was most significantly associated with extreme high temperature especially for a subpopulation aged 40–64 years. All study subpopulations with hypertensive disease have significant risk associations with extreme low temperature. Male subpopulations were more vulnerable to extreme temperatures, especially for those aged 40–64 years.