The effects of temperature and humidity on mortality in acute medical admissions

Philippa White; Richard Conway; Declan Byrne; Deirdre O’Riordan; Bernard Silke

doi:10.29333/ejeph/12446

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Philippa White ¹ ^* , Richard Conway ¹ , Declan Byrne ¹ , Deirdre O’Riordan ¹ , Bernard Silke ¹

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¹ Department of Internal Medicine, St James’s Hospital, Dublin, IRELAND^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

The full effects of meteorological variables on mortality have not yet been elucidated. This study’s aim was to investigate whether 30-day in-hospital mortality in emergency hospital admissions for non-respiratory diseases were sensitive to the effects of humidity and ambient temperature on the day of admission. We studied all emergency medical admissions to St. James’s Hospital, Dublin, during 2002-2018 (n=113,807) and investigated temperature and humidity on day of admission. We employed multivariable logistic regression to identify temperature and humidity mortality predictors, adjusting for underlying comorbidities. Lower temperatures on day of admission predicted higher 30-day in-hospital mortality (adjusted OR: 1.12, 95% CI: 1.06-1.17), but lower humidity levels did not (adjusted OR: 0.97, 95% CI: 0.91-1.03). There was no interaction between meteorological variables and comorbidities on mortality. In conclusion, temperature may be a more significant predictor of in-hospital mortality than humidity for non-respiratory patients.

Keywords

temperature
humidity
comorbidity
mortality outcomes

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EUR J ENV PUBLIC HLT, Volume 7, Issue 1, 2023, Article No: em0123

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejeph/12446

Publication date: 01 Jan 2023

Online publication date: 09 Sep 2022

Article Views: 1027

Article Downloads: 1311

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Vancouver

White P, Conway R, Byrne D, O’Riordan D, Silke B. The effects of temperature and humidity on mortality in acute medical admissions. EUR J ENV PUBLIC HLT. 2023;7(1):em0123. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejeph/12446

APA

White, P., Conway, R., Byrne, D., O’Riordan, D., & Silke, B. (2023). The effects of temperature and humidity on mortality in acute medical admissions. European Journal of Environment and Public Health, 7(1), em0123. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejeph/12446

AMA

White P, Conway R, Byrne D, O’Riordan D, Silke B. The effects of temperature and humidity on mortality in acute medical admissions. EUR J ENV PUBLIC HLT. 2023;7(1), em0123. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejeph/12446

Chicago

White, Philippa, Richard Conway, Declan Byrne, Deirdre O’Riordan, and Bernard Silke. "The effects of temperature and humidity on mortality in acute medical admissions". European Journal of Environment and Public Health 2023 7 no. 1 (2023): em0123. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejeph/12446

Harvard

White, P., Conway, R., Byrne, D., O’Riordan, D., and Silke, B. (2023). The effects of temperature and humidity on mortality in acute medical admissions. European Journal of Environment and Public Health, 7(1), em0123. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejeph/12446

MLA

White, Philippa et al. "The effects of temperature and humidity on mortality in acute medical admissions". European Journal of Environment and Public Health, vol. 7, no. 1, 2023, em0123. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejeph/12446