Associations Between Ambient Extreme Heat Exposure and Emergency Department Visits Related to Kidney Disease

Abstract

Rationale & objective: Extreme heat exposure is associated with multiple diseases. However, our current understanding of the specific impact of extreme heat exposure on kidney disease is limited.

Study design: Case-crossover study.

Setting & participants: 1,114,322 emergency department (ED) visits with a principal diagnosis of kidney disease were identified in New York state, 2005-2013.

Exposure: Extreme heat exposure was defined as when the daily temperature exceeded the 90th percentile temperature of that month during the study period in the county.

Outcome: ED visits with a principal diagnosis of kidney disease and its subtypes (ICD-9 [International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision] codes 580-599, 788).

Analytical approach: Extreme heat exposure on the ED visit days was compared with extreme heat exposure on control days using a conditional logistic regression model, controlling for humidity, air pollutants, and holidays. The excess risk of kidney disease was calculated for a week (lag days 0-6) after extreme heat exposure during the warm season (May through September). We also stratified our estimates by sociodemographic characteristics.

Results: Extreme heat exposure was associated with a 1.7% (lag day 0) to 3.1% (lag day 2) higher risk of ED visits related to kidney disease; this association was stronger with a greater number of extreme heat exposure days in the previous week. The association with extreme heat exposure lasted for an entire week and was stronger in the transitional months (ie, May and September; excess rates ranged from 1.8% to 5.1%) rather than the summer months (June through August; excess rates ranged from 1.5% to 2.7%). The strength of association was greater among those with ED visits related to acute kidney injury, kidney stones, and urinary tract infections. Age and sex may modify the association between extreme heat exposure and ED visits.

Limitations: Individual exposure to heat-how long people were outside or whether they had access to air conditioning-was unknown.

Conclusions: Extreme heat exposure was significantly associated with a dose-dependent greater risk of ED visits for kidney disease.

Keywords: Acute kidney injury (AKI); ED visits; ambient temperature; climate change; emergency department (ED); environmental health; extreme heat exposure (EHE); global warming; heat stress; heatwave; kidney stones; renal disease; urinary tract infection (UTI); warm season.