Impact of ambient temperature on cardiovascular disease hospital admissions in farmers in China's Western suburbs

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been a major threat to global public health. The association between temperature and CVD has been widely studied and reported in cities in developed countries. However, information from developing countries, especially from suburbs and countryside, is quite limited. In this study, the daily time series data on CVD hospital admissions in farmers in the suburbs of Tianshui, China, and the meteorological data from 2012 to 2015, were collected; besides, a quasi-Poisson regression with a distributed-lag non-linear model (DLNM) was used to explore the impact of local daily mean temperature on CVD hospital admissions in suburban farmers. This study found that, first, from 2011 to 2015, a total of 30,611 person-times of CVD hospital admissions in farmers were recorded; second, there was a “J-shaped” relation between temperature and CVD hospital admissions, and both low and high temperature increased the risk of hospital admission, but the impact of high temperature was greater; third, compared with the minimum hospitalization temperature (MHT) at 0.3 °C, during 0 to 21 lag days, the cumulative relative risk (RR) for extreme cold and heat (1st and 99th percentile of temperature, respectively) was 1.117 (95% CI 0.941–1.325) and 1.740 (95% CI 1.302–2.327), respectively, and that of moderate cold and heat (5st and 95th percentile of temperature, respectively) was 1.029 (95% CI 0.958–1.106) and 1.572 (95% CI 1.210–2.042), respectively; fourth, compared with male and ≥ 65 years groups, the risk for low temperature was greater for female and < 65 years groups, the risk for high temperature was just the opposite; last, about 21.04% of CVD hospital admissions burden were attributed to the ambient temperature, and most of (about 19.26%) were caused by moderate heat. In Tianshui, alongside with extreme temperature, the moderate temperature might be an important risk factor for CVD hospital admissions in suburban farmers.