Assessing the Effect of Precipitation on Asthma Emergency Department Visits in New York State From 2005 to 2014: A Case-Crossover Study.

Abstract

The Earth's precipitation patterns are changing, and regional precipitation is expected to continue to increase in New York State (NYS). Heavy precipitation may negatively affect asthma prevalence through its effect on seasonally varying allergens. We employed a threshold analysis using a time-stratified semi-symmetric bi-directional case-crossover study design to assess the effect of increase in precipitation on asthma (ICD-9 code 493.xx, N=970,903) emergency department (ED) visits between 2005 and 2014 during non-winter months in NYS. Spatially contiguous gridded meteorological data from North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) were utilized. We used conditional logistic regression models and stratified the analyses by seasons. During non-winter months, we found a small, statistically significant risk of asthma ED visits for precipitation levels above 50mm, with differences by season. These results suggest that heavy precipitation may be related to an increased risk of asthma ED visits. Gridded meteorological estimates provide a means of addressing the gaps in exposure classification, and these findings provide opportunities for further research on interactions with aeroallergens and meteorological conditions in the context of climate and health.