Objective: Acute tonsillitis is a common disease in otorhinolaryngology. Meteorological factors can affect the incidence of many infectious diseases. This study aims to analyze the correlation between acute tonsillitis and meteorological conditions.
Materials and methods: We collected the meteorological data, including daily temperature, humidity, and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) of Shanghai, China, from 2014 to 2015. The monthly number of acute tonsillitis cases in our hospital was also calculated and used as the outcome variable. The associations between them were evaluated, respectively.
Results: The average number of patients diagnosed with acute tonsillitis in our hospital per month was 68.67 ± 18.67 from 2014 to 2015. The average temperature, humidity, and PM2.5 of Shanghai during the defined period was 16.84 °C ± 7.80 °C, 75.93% ± 5.45%, and 52.38 ± 14.23 μg/m3, respectively. The temperature was significantly positively associated with the acute tonsillitis cases number both in Pearson correlation analysis (R = 0.423, P = .039) and in multivariate regression analysis (coefficient =2.194, P = .012). However, no correlation between the acute tonsillitis cases number and relative humidity or PM2.5 was found through a multivariate regression model (P = .225 and P = .243), respectively.
Conclusion: The high temperature was associated with an increased incidence of acute tonsillitis.
Keywords: acute tonsillitis; meteorological factors; temperature; weather conditions.