COVID-19 pandemic modifies temperature and heat-related illness ambulance transport association in Japan: a nationwide observational study.
Environ Health
; 20(1): 122, 2021 12 02.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34857008
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, several illnesses were reduced. In Japan, heat-related illnesses were reduced by 22% compared to pre-pandemic period. However, it is uncertain as to what has led to this reduction. Here, we model the association of maximum temperature and heat-related illnesses in the 47 Japanese prefectures. We specifically examined how the exposure and lag associations varied before and during the pandemic.METHODS:
We obtained the summer-specific, daily heat-related illness ambulance transport (HIAT), exposure variable (maximum temperature) and covariate data from relevant data sources. We utilized a stratified (pre-pandemic and pandemic), two-stage approach. In each stratified group, we estimated the 1) prefecture-level association using a quasi-Poisson regression coupled with a distributed lag non-linear model, which was 2) pooled using a random-effects meta-analysis. The difference between pooled pre-pandemic and pandemic associations was examined across the exposure and the lag dimensions.RESULTS:
A total of 321,655 HIAT cases was recorded in Japan from 2016 to 2020. We found an overall reduction of heat-related risks for HIAT during the pandemic, with a wide range of reduction (10.85 to 57.47%) in the HIAT risk, across exposure levels ranging from 21.69 °C to 36.31 °C. On the contrary, we found an increment in the delayed heat-related risks during the pandemic at Lag 2 (16.33%; 95% CI 1.00, 33.98%).CONCLUSION:
This study provides evidence of the impact of COVID-19, particularly on the possible roles of physical interventions and behavioral changes, in modifying the temperature-health association. These findings would have implications on subsequent policies or heat-related warning strategies in light of ongoing or future pandemics.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Ambulâncias
/
Transtornos de Estresse por Calor
/
Pandemias
/
COVID-19
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Environ Health
Assunto da revista:
SAUDE AMBIENTAL
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Japão