Influence of air pressure, humidity, solar radiation, temperature, and wind speed on ambulatory visits due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Bavaria, Germany.
Int J Biometeorol
; 56(1): 137-43, 2012 Jan.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-21301889
ABSTRACT
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. The disease is often aggravated by periods of increased symptoms requiring medical attention. Among the possible triggers for these exacerbations, meteorological factors are under consideration. The objective of this study was to assess the influence of various meteorological factors on the health status of patients with COPD. For this purpose, the daily number of ambulatory care visits due to COPD was analysed in Bavaria, Germany, for the years 2006 and 2007. The meteorological factors were provided by the model at the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF). For the multivariate analysis, a generalised linear model was used. In Bavaria, an increase of 1% of daily consultations (about 103 visits per day) was found to be associated with a change of 0.72 K temperature, 209.55 of log air surface pressure in Pa, and a decrease of 1% of daily consultations with 1,453,763 Ws m(2) of solar radiation. There also seem to be regional differences between north and south Bavaria; for instance, the effect of wind speed and specific humidity with a lag of 1 day were only significant in the north. This study could contribute to a tool for the prevention of exacerbations. It also serves as a model for the further evaluation of the impact of meteorological factors on health, and could easily be applied to other diseases or other regions.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Temas:
Agentes_cancerigenos
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Doença Pulmonar Obstrutiva Crônica
/
Assistência Ambulatorial
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Int J Biometeorol
Ano de publicação:
2012
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Alemanha