Study on the Correlation between Temperature and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Shijiazhuang, China—Retrospective Cohort

Guiqin Fu,Huayue Liu,Xiakun Zhang

doi:10.4236/gep.2017.57003

Abstract

Using the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) medical records from January 1st to December 31st of 2013 and the Meteorological observation data, the air pollution data in the same time periods, generalized additive models were used to quantitatively analyze the relationship between COPD hospitalizations and temperature with controlling the confounding effects of time trend, meteorological factors and air pollution index (AQI). Results showed: variable temperature in 24 h (BT), 3d lagged minimum temperature (Tm3) and 5d lagged diurnal maximum temperature and minimum temperature range (Tc5) have different effects on COPD hospitalizations. When BT is between -4.4°C and -0.7°C, the relative risk (RR) increases to 1.0207 (95% CI: 1.0074 - 1.0342）with every 1°C increase in BT; when Tm3 is between -3.6°C and 3.2°C, the relative risk (RR) increases to 1.0118 (95% CI: 1.0015 - 1.0222）with every 1°C increase in Tm3, and when Tm3 is greater than 20.5°C, the relative risk (RR) increases to 1.0069 (95% CI: 1.0005 - 1.0133) with every 1°C increase in Tm3; when Tc5 is between 0.9°C and 8.6°C, if the Tc5 increases 1°C, the relative risk (RR) increases to 1.0125 (95% CI: 1.0066 - 1.0185. There are different effects for weather in different seasons on COPD hospitalizations: in autumn and winter, it is mainly of little BT and heavy air pollution weather; in spring, the large Tc5 weather is a main feature, and in summer, it’s mainly of high temperature and low pressure weather. The results help to provide some guidance on COPD forecasting services.

Highlights

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) for short, is a type of respiratory disease characterized by incompletely reversible airflow limitation as well as a common disease that seriously endangers people’s health [1]
By combining the daily meteorological forecast service, we sequenced all the data according to the change of BT, and we found a total of 308 samples in the relative incidence peak of COPD
Autumn and winter, weather stability in time of small temperature changes, and air pollution represented the major factors for COPD

Summary

Introduction

COPD for short, is a type of respiratory disease characterized by incompletely reversible airflow limitation as well as a common disease that seriously endangers people’s health [1]. 16 million people are diagnosed with COPD. Symptoms often worsen over time and can limit your ability to do routine activities. Severe COPD may prevent you from doing even basic activities like walking, cooking, or taking care of yourself. The etiology and pathogenesis underlying COPD are not fully elucidated, whereas it is certain that both meteorological and environmental conditions show a comprehensive effect on the incidence of COPD [2]-[7]. Yin Jun et al [8] analyzed the difference in the incidence of COPD among different regions of China and the relationship between it and meteorological conditions, and they found that the incidence of COPD in North China was significantly higher than in South China

Methods

Results

Conclusion