Abstract
Background: Mental disorders have been found to be positively associated with temperature in cool to cold climatic regions but the association in warmer regions is unclear. This study presented the short-term association between temperatures and mental disorder hospitalizations in a subtropical city with a mean annual temperature over 21 °C. Methods: Using Poisson-generalized additive models and distributed-lagged nonlinear models, daily mental disorder hospitalizations between 2002 and 2011 in Hong Kong were regressed on daily mean temperature, relative humidity, and air pollutants, adjusted for seasonal trend, long-term trend, day-of-week, and holiday. Analyses were stratified by disease class, gender and age-group. Results: 44,600 admissions were included in the analysis. Temperature was positively associated with overall mental-disorder hospitalizations (cumulative relative risk at 28 °C vs. 19.4 °C (interquartile range, lag 0–2 days) = 1.09 (95% confidence interval 1.03, 1.15)), with the strongest effect among the elderly (≥75 years old). Transient mental disorders due to conditions classified elsewhere and episodic mood disorders also showed strong positive associations with temperature. Conclusion: This study found a positive temperature–mental-disorder admissions association in a warm subtropical region and the association was most prominent among older people. With the dual effect of global warming and an aging population, targeted strategies should be designed to lower the disease burden.
Highlights
The earth’s surface and atmosphere are warming unequivocally and successively
The df chosen for temperature and relative humidity (RH) were 2 and that for NO2 was 3
Our study found a U-shaped association between temperature and dementia admissions, the association was nonsignificant
Summary
The earth’s surface and atmosphere are warming unequivocally and successively. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, estimated average temperatures increased by 0.78 ◦ C (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.72 to 0.85 ◦ C) between the 1850–1900 and 2003–2012 periods [1]. The global human-health burden of climate change has not been well quantified, temperature-related morbidity and mortality, for heat effects, have been reported [2]. Mental illness is a global health burden accounting for 32.4% of years lived with disability (YLDs) and. This study presented the short-term association between temperatures and mental disorder hospitalizations in a subtropical city with a mean annual temperature over 21 ◦ C. Methods: Using Poisson-generalized additive models and distributed-lagged nonlinear models, daily mental disorder hospitalizations between 2002 and 2011 in Hong Kong were regressed on daily mean temperature, relative humidity, and air pollutants, adjusted for seasonal trend, long-term trend, day-of-week, and holiday. Temperature was positively associated with overall mental-disorder hospitalizations (cumulative relative risk at 28 ◦ C vs 19.4 ◦ C (interquartile range, lag 0–2 days) = 1.09
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