The Association Pattern between Ambient Temperature Change and Leukocyte Counts

Shih-Chiang Hung, Chen-Cheng Yang, Chu-Feng Liu, Chia-Te Kung, Wen-Huei Lee, Chi-Kung Ho, Hung-Yi Chuang and Hsin-Su Yu
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Shih-Chiang Hung: Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Chen-Cheng Yang: Department of Occupational Medicine and Family Medicine, Kaohsiung Municipal Siaogang Hospital and Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Chu-Feng Liu: Department of Emergency Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung 83301, Taiwan
Chia-Te Kung: Department of Emergency Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung 83301, Taiwan
Wen-Huei Lee: Department of Emergency Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung 83301, Taiwan
Chi-Kung Ho: Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Hung-Yi Chuang: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Hsin-Su Yu: College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 13, 1-11

Abstract: Ambient temperature change is one of the risk factors of human health. Moreover, links between white blood cell counts (WBC) and diseases have been revealed in the literature. Still, we do not know of any association between ambient temperature change and WBC counts. The aim of our study is to investigate the relationship between ambient temperature change and WBC counts. We conducted this two-year population-based observational study in Kaohsiung city, recruiting voluntary community participants. Total WBC and differential counts, demographic data and health hazard habits were collected and matched with the meteorological data of air-quality monitoring stations with participants’ study dates and addresses. Generalized additive models (GAM) with penalized smoothing spline functions were performed for the trend of temperature changes and WBC counts. There were 9278 participants (45.3% male, aged 54.3 ± 5.9 years-old) included in analysis. Compared with stable weather conditions, the WBC counts were statistically higher when the one-day lag temperature changed over 2 degrees Celsius, regardless of whether colder or hotter. We found a V-shaped pattern association between WBC counts and temperature changes in GAM. The ambient temperature change was associated with WBC counts, and might imply an impact on systematic inflammation response.

Keywords: ambient temperature; white blood cell count; generalized additive model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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