Temperature and Humidity Effects on Hospital Morbidity in Darwin, Australia

James Goldie; Steven C Sherwood; Donna Green; Lisa Alexander

doi:10.1016/j.aogh.2015.07.003

Temperature and Humidity Effects on Hospital Morbidity in Darwin, Australia

Ann Glob Health. 2015 May-Jun;81(3):333-41. doi: 10.1016/j.aogh.2015.07.003.

Authors

James Goldie¹, Steven C Sherwood², Donna Green², Lisa Alexander²

Affiliations

¹ ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Systems Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Climate Change Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Electronic address: j.goldie@unsw.edu.au.
² ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Systems Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Climate Change Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

PMID: 26615068
DOI: 10.1016/j.aogh.2015.07.003

Abstract

Background: Many studies have explored the relationship between temperature and health in the context of a changing climate, but few have considered the effects of humidity, particularly in tropical locations, on human health and well-being. To investigate this potential relationship, this study assessed the main and interacting effects of daily temperature and humidity on hospital admission rates for selected heat-relevant diagnoses in Darwin, Australia.

Methods: Univariate and bivariate Poisson generalized linear models were used to find statistically significant predictors and the admission rates within bins of predictors were compared to explore nonlinear effects.

Findings: The analysis indicated that nighttime humidity was the most statistically significant predictor (P < 0.001), followed by daytime temperature and average daily humidity (P < 0.05). There was no evidence of a significant interaction between them or other predictors. The nighttime humidity effect appeared to be strongly nonlinear: Hot days appeared to have higher admission rates when they were preceded by high nighttime humidity.

Conclusions: From this analysis, we suggest that heat-health policies in tropical regions similar to Darwin need to accommodate the effects of temperature and humidity at different times of day.

Keywords: admissions; heat stress; hyperthermia; sleep disruption; tropical.

MeSH terms

Australia / epidemiology
Heart Failure / epidemiology*
Heat Stress Disorders / epidemiology*
Hospitalization / statistics & numerical data*
Hot Temperature*
Humans
Humidity*
Linear Models
Myocardial Ischemia / epidemiology*
Nonlinear Dynamics
Poisson Distribution
Respiratory Tract Diseases / epidemiology*
Temperature