Thermal Conditions and Hospital Admissions: Analysis of Longitudinal Data from Cyprus (2009–2018)

Katerina Pantavou, George Giallouros, Kostas Philippopoulos, Daniele Piovani, Constantinos Cartalis, Stefanos Bonovas and Georgios K. Nikolopoulos
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Katerina Pantavou: Medical School, University of Cyprus, Nicosia 2029, Cyprus
George Giallouros: Medical School, University of Cyprus, Nicosia 2029, Cyprus
Kostas Philippopoulos: Department of Environmental Physics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784 Athens, Greece
Daniele Piovani: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Via Rita Levi Montalcini 4, Pieve Emanuele, 20090 Milan, Italy
Constantinos Cartalis: Department of Environmental Physics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784 Athens, Greece
Stefanos Bonovas: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Via Rita Levi Montalcini 4, Pieve Emanuele, 20090 Milan, Italy
Georgios K. Nikolopoulos: Medical School, University of Cyprus, Nicosia 2029, Cyprus

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 24, 1-15

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.

Keywords: hospital admissions; air temperature; PET; UTCI; Cyprus; public health; health impact (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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