Abstract
The state of the thermal environment can affect human health and well-being. Heat stress is associated with a wide range of health outcomes increasing morbidity and mortality and is recognized as an important health risk posed by climate change. This study aims at examining the effect of thermal conditions on the daily number of hospital admissions in Cyprus. Data from eight public hospitals located in five districts of Cyprus were analyzed from 2009 to 2018. Meteorological hourly gridded data were extracted by the ERA-5 Land reanalysis database with a spatial horizontal resolution of 0.1° × 0.1°. The Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET) and the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) were calculated as measures of the integrated effect of meteorological variables. Negative binomial regression was fitted to examine associations between the daily number of hospital admissions and meteorological variables, PET, and UTCI. The results showed that the mean daily temperature (Tair) was positively associated with hospital admissions from any cause. Hospital admissions increased by 0.6% (p < 0.001) for each 1 °C increase of Tair and by 0.4% (p < 0.001) for each 1 °C increase of PET and UTCI. Ozone and nitrogen oxides act as confounding factors. An effect of particulate matter (less than 10 μm in diameter) was observed when the analysis focused on April to August. Thresholds above which hospital admissions are likely to increase include daily mean Tair = 26.1 °C, PET = 29 °C, and UTCI = 26 °C. Studies on heat-related health effects are necessary to monitor health patterns, raise awareness, and design adaptation and mitigation measures.
Highlights
Climate change has observable effects on all regions on Earth
792,984 hospital admission records were retrieved from the archives of eight public hospitals in Cyprus between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2018 (Table 1)
This study examined the effect of thermal conditions on hospital admissions in public hospitals in Cyprus between 2009 and 2018, including all seasons and public hospitals in Cyprus
Summary
Climate change has observable effects on all regions on Earth. Severe weather warnings are issued regularly, the global temperature has increased, rainfall patterns have changed, the water cycle has been intensified, sea levels have risen, and ocean chemistry has altered, triggering a variety of adverse impacts on human well-being and health [1].According to the World Health Organization [2], the mortality rate is expected to increase between 2030 and 2050 due to climate change by about 250,000 additional deaths per year, from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress. Climate change has observable effects on all regions on Earth. Severe weather warnings are issued regularly, the global temperature has increased, rainfall patterns have changed, the water cycle has been intensified, sea levels have risen, and ocean chemistry has altered, triggering a variety of adverse impacts on human well-being and health [1]. According to the World Health Organization [2], the mortality rate is expected to increase between 2030 and 2050 due to climate change by about 250,000 additional deaths per year, from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress. The most vulnerable areas are mainly those in developing countries with weak health infrastructure [2]. The detected increasing trend in extreme temperatures [4] poses many risks to human health. The decade 2011–2020 was the warmest on record according to the World Meteo-
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