Impact of Climatic Variations on Drug-induced Skin Reactions in Two Different Regions of India

Abstract

Background: Around 2-3% of hospitalizations have been reported due to dermatological adverse drug reactions. Recent studies suggest that climatic variations affect the skin barrier function and extreme conditions aggravate skin disorders.

Objective: The present study was designed to compare the impact of climatic variations on drug-induced skin reactions in the Northern and Eastern regions of India.

Methods: We performed a one-year retrospective study to evaluate the impact of climatic variations (temperature and humidity) on drug-induced skin reactions in the Eastern (Kalyani, West Bengal) and Northern (Karnal, Haryana) regions. Drug-induced skin reactions were reported month-- wise in both the Eastern and Northern regions. Temperature and humidity levels were also noted month-wise in both regions. The direct correlation between climatic variations and the number of drug reactions were assessed using Pearson's correlation and quadratic regression analysis.

Results and discussion: Overall, 99 and 81 dermatological adverse drug reactions were reported in tertiary care hospitals in the Northern and Eastern regions, respectively. During the summer season, the humidity level was found to be low in the Northern region as compared to the Eastern region. During this period, drug-induced skin reactions were reported significantly (p<0.05) more in the Northern region as compared to the Eastern region. Furthermore, quadratic regression analysis revealed that climatic variations contributed to drug reaction variability in the Northern region (68.5%) and Eastern region (23.5%).

Conclusion: Therefore, the difference in the prevalence of drug-induced skin reactions may be related to the different climatic conditions among these two regions. Further studies in controlled climatic conditions should be performed for definitive correlations and to look into possible solutions.

Keywords: Temperature; climate change; dermatological ADRs; humidity; pharmacoepidemiology; tertiary care hospital.