Influence of Indoor Temperature Exposure on Emergency Department Visits Due to Infectious and Non-Infectious Respiratory Diseases for Older People

Chien-Cheng Jung, Nai-Tzu Chen, Ying-Fang Hsia, Nai-Yun Hsu and Huey-Jen Su
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Chien-Cheng Jung: Department of Public Health, China Medical University, Taichung City 406060, Taiwan
Nai-Tzu Chen: Research Center of Environmental Trace Toxic Substances, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City 70403, Taiwan
Ying-Fang Hsia: Big Data Center, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung City 404332, Taiwan
Nai-Yun Hsu: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City 70403, Taiwan
Huey-Jen Su: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City 70403, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 10, 1-11

Abstract: Previous studies have demonstrated that outdoor temperature exposure was an important risk factor for respiratory diseases. However, no study investigates the effect of indoor temperature exposure on respiratory diseases and further assesses cumulative effect. The objective of this study is to study the cumulative effect of indoor temperature exposure on emergency department visits due to infectious (IRD) and non-infectious (NIRD) respiratory diseases among older adults. Subjects were collected from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database in Taiwan. The cumulative degree hours (CDHs) was used to assess the cumulative effect of indoor temperature exposure. A distributed lag nonlinear model with quasi-Poisson function was used to analyze the association between CDHs and emergency department visits due to IRD and NIRD. For IRD, there was a significant risk at 27, 28, 29, 30, and 31 °C when the CDHs exceeded 69, 40, 14, 5, and 1 during the cooling season (May to October), respectively, and at 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23 °C when the CDHs exceeded 8, 1, 1, 35, and 62 during the heating season (November to April), respectively. For NIRD, there was a significant risk at 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23 °C when the CDHs exceeded 1, 1, 16, 36, and 52 during the heating season, respectively; the CDHs at 1 was only associated with the NIRD at 31 °C during the cooling season. Our data also indicated that the CDHs was lower among men than women. We conclude that the cumulative effects of indoor temperature exposure should be considered to reduce IRD risk in both cooling and heating seasons and NIRD risk in heating season and the cumulative effect on different gender.

Keywords: indoor temperature; older people; respiratory diseases; cumulative degree hour (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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