Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is the leading cause of death among people with diabetes mellitus (DM) and has been found to occur more frequently with extreme temperatures. With the increasing ...prevalence of DM and the rising global mean temperature, the number of heat-related AMI cases among DM patients may increase. This study compares excess risk of AMI during periods of extreme temperatures between patients with DM and without DM.
Distributed lag nonlinear models (DLNMs) were used to estimate the short-term association between daily mean temperature and AMI admissions (International Classification of Diseases 9th revision ICD-9 code: 410.00-410.99), stratified by DM status (ICD-9: 250.00-250.99), to all public hospitals in Hong Kong from 2002 to 2011, adjusting for other meteorological variables and air pollutants. Analyses were also stratified by season, age group, gender, and admission type (first admissions and readmissions). The admissions data and meteorological data were obtained from the Hong Kong Hospital Authority (HA) and the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO).
A total of 53,769 AMI admissions were included in the study. AMI admissions among DM patients were linearly and negatively associated with temperature in the cold season (cumulative relative risk cumRR 95% confidence interval in lag 0-22 days (12 °C versus 24 °C) = 2.10 1.62-2.72), while those among patients without DM only started increasing when temperatures dropped below 22 °C with a weaker association (cumRR = 1.43 1.21-1.69). In the hot season, AMI hospitalizations among DM patients started increasing when the temperature dropped below or rose above 28.8 °C (cumRR in lag 0-4 days 30.4 versus 28.8 °C = 1.14 1.00-1.31), while those among patients without DM showed no association with temperature. The differences in sensitivity to temperature between patients with DM and without DM were most apparent in the group <75 years old and among first-admission cases in the cold season. The main limitation of this study was the unavailability of data on individual exposure to ambient temperature.
DM patients had a higher increased risk of AMI admissions than non-DM patients during extreme temperatures. AMI admissions risks among DM patients rise sharply in both high and low temperatures, with a stronger effect in low temperatures, while AMI risk among non-DM patients only increased mildly in low temperatures. Targeted health protection guidelines should be provided to warn DM patients and physicians about the dangers of extreme temperatures. Further studies to project the impacts of AMI risks on DM patients by climate change are warranted.
Previous studies have found associations between meteorological variables and asthma hospitalisations but the nature of these associations has varied and few studies have been done in subtropical ...areas or evaluated effect modification by age.
This study aimed to evaluate associations between asthma hospitalisations and meteorological factors and to assess effect modification of these associations by age and season in Hong Kong.
Poisson generalised additive models combined with distributed lag nonlinear models and piecewise linear models were used to model associations between daily asthma hospitalisations from 2004 to 2011 and meteorological factors and air pollutants, adjusting for day of week, seasonality and trend. Subgroup analyses by age and season were performed.
In the hot season, hospitalisations were lowest at 27°C, rose to a peak at 30°C, then plateaued between 30°C and 32°C. The cumulative relative risk for lags 0-3 days (RRlag0-3) for 30°C vs 27°C was 1.19 (95% CI 1.06 to 1.34). In the cold season, temperature was negatively associated with asthma hospitalisations. The cumulative RRlag0-3 for 12°C vs 25°C was 1.33 (95% CI 1.13 to 1.58). Adult admissions were most sensitive to temperatures in both seasons while admissions among children under 5 were least associated. Higher humidity and ozone levels in the hot season, and low humidity in the cold season were also associated with more asthma admissions.
People with asthma should avoid exposure to adverse conditions by limiting outdoor activities during periods of extreme temperatures, combinations of high humidity and high temperature, and low humidity and low temperature, and high ozone levels.
Pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) are the commonest causes of respiratory hospitalization among older adults. Both diseases have been reported to be associated with ambient ...temperature, but the associations have not been compared between the diseases. Their associations with other meteorological variables have also not been well studied. This study aimed to evaluate the associations between meteorological variables, pneumonia, and COPD hospitalization among adults over 60 and to compare these associations between the diseases. Daily cause-specific hospitalization counts in Hong Kong during 2004–2011 were regressed on daily meteorological variables using distributed lag nonlinear models. Associations were compared between diseases by ratio of relative risks. Analyses were stratified by season and age group (60–74 vs. ≥ 75). In hot season, high temperature (> 28 °C) and high relative humidity (> 82%) were statistically significantly associated with more pneumonia in lagged 0–2 and lagged 0–10 days, respectively. Pneumonia hospitalizations among the elderly (≥ 75) also increased with high solar radiation and high wind speed. During the cold season, consistent hockey-stick associations with temperature and relative humidity were found for both admissions and both age groups. The minimum morbidity temperature and relative humidity were at about 21–22 °C and 82%. The lagged effects of low temperature were comparable for both diseases (lagged 0–20 days). The low-temperature-admissions associations with COPD were stronger and were strongest among the elderly. This study found elevated pneumonia and COPD admissions risks among adults ≥ 60 during periods of extreme weather conditions, and the associations varied by season and age group. Vulnerable groups should be advised to avoid exposures, such as staying indoor and maintaining satisfactory indoor conditions, to minimize risks.
•Moderate-to-high levels of nitrogen dioxide were associated with AKI events.•Positive association between seasonal influenza activity and AKI events.•Risk of AKI increased when the temperature was ...low.•Officials are urged to extend influenza vaccination program to individuals with pre-existing renal conditions.•Adopting clean-air policies to protect the health of the community is recommended.
Despite high incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) among patients hospitalised for influenza, no previous work has attempted to analyse and quantify the association between the two. Herein, we made use of Hong Kong's surveillance data to evaluate the time-varying relationship between seasonal influenza and risk of AKI with adjustment for potential environmental covariates. Generalized additive model was used in conjunction with distributed-lag non-linear model to estimate the association of interest with daily AKI admissions as outcome and daily influenza admissions as predictor, while controlling for environmental variables (i.e. temperature, relative humidity, total rainfall, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone). Results suggested a positive association between risk of AKI admission and number of influenza hospitalisation cases, with relative risk reaching 1.12 (95% confidence interval, 1.10–1.15) at the 95th percentile. Using median as reference, an almost U-shaped association between risk of AKI admission and temperature was observed; the risk increased significantly when the temperature was low. While ozone was not shown to be a risk factor for AKI, moderate-to-high levels of nitrogen dioxide (50–95th percentile) were significantly associated with increased risk of AKI admission. This study mentioned the possibility that AKI hospitalisations are subject to environmental influences and offered support for a positive association between seasonal influenza and AKI occurrence in Hong Kong. Authorities are urged to extend the influenza vaccination program to individuals with pre-existing renal conditions to safeguard the health of the vulnerable. Given that adverse health effects are evident at current ambient levels of nitrogen dioxide, the government is recommended to adopt clean-air policies at the earliest opportunity to protect the health of the community.
•Meteorological impact on COVID-19 superspreading was rarely studied.•We used comprehensive contact tracing data to estimate superspreading potential.•Cold condition and higher rainfall were related ...to a lower superspreading potential.•U-shaped relationship between relative humidity and superspreading was observed.
While many investigations examined the association between environmental covariates and COVID-19 incidence, none have examined their relationship with superspreading, a characteristic describing very few individuals disproportionally infecting a large number of people.
Contact tracing data of all the laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong from February 16, 2020 to April 30, 2021 were used to form the infection clusters for estimating the time-varying dispersion parameter (kt), a measure of superspreading potential. Generalized additive models with identity link function were used to examine the association between negative-log kt (larger means higher superspreading potential) and the environmental covariates, adjusted with mobility metrics that account for the effect of social distancing measures.
A total of 6,645 clusters covering 11,717 cases were reported over the study period. After centering at the median temperature, a lower ambient temperature at 10th percentile (18.2 °C) was significantly associated with a lower estimate of negative-log kt (adjusted expected change: −0.239 95 % CI: −0.431 to −0.048). While a U-shaped relationship between relative humidity and negative-log kt was observed, an inverted U-shaped relationship with actual vapour pressure was found. A higher total rainfall was significantly associated with lower estimates of negative-log kt.
This study demonstrated a link between meteorological factors and the superspreading potential of COVID-19. We speculated that cold weather and rainy days reduced the social activities of individuals minimizing the interaction with others and the risk of spreading the diseases in high-risk facilities or large clusters, while the extremities of relative humidity may favor the stability and survival of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Previous studies have reported an association between warm temperature and asthma hospitalisation. They have reported different sex-related and age-related vulnerabilities; nevertheless, little is ...known about how this effect has changed over time and how it varies in space. This study aims to evaluate the association between asthma hospitalisation and warm temperature and investigate vulnerabilities by age, sex, time and space.
We retrieved individual-level data on summer asthma hospitalisation at high temporal (daily) and spatial (postcodes) resolutions during 2002-2019 in England from the NHS Digital. Daily mean temperature at 1 km×1 km resolution was retrieved from the UK Met Office. We focused on lag 0-3 days. We employed a case-crossover study design and fitted Bayesian hierarchical Poisson models accounting for possible confounders (rainfall, relative humidity, wind speed and national holidays).
After accounting for confounding, we found an increase of 1.11% (95% credible interval: 0.88% to 1.34%) in the asthma hospitalisation risk for every 1°C increase in the ambient summer temperature. The effect was highest for males aged 16-64 (2.10%, 1.59% to 2.61%) and during the early years of our analysis. We also found evidence of a decreasing linear trend of the effect over time. Populations in Yorkshire and the Humber and East and West Midlands were the most vulnerable.
This study provides evidence of an association between warm temperature and hospital admission for asthma. The effect has decreased over time with potential explanations including temporal differences in patterns of heat exposure, adaptive mechanisms, asthma management, lifestyle, comorbidities and occupation.
Geographic pattern of dengue fever is changing due to the global environmental and climate changes in the 21st century. Evidence of community's knowledge, mosquito bite patterns and protective ...behavior practices in non-endemic regions is limited. This study examined the knowledge of dengue, mosquito bite patterns, protective behavior practices and their associated factors in Hong Kong, a non-endemic subtropical city. A population-based random telephone survey (n = 590) was conducted three weeks after the government announcement of a local dengue outbreak in August 2018. Sociodemographic status, awareness, knowledge, protective measures, bite patterns of mosquito were collected. Results indicated high level of community awareness of the local outbreak (95.2%), symptom identification (84.0%) and adoption of at least one mosquito protective measures (nearly 80%). About 40% of respondents reported that they were bitten by mosquitoes during the study period, a high mosquito season in Hong Kong. Mosquito bites were prevalent near grassy area (63.4%), at home (42.6%) and at public transportation waiting spots (39.6%). Younger people (< 25 years old), female, those who lived on lower floors (≤the 6th) and near grassy area were at higher risk of mosquito bites at home. Respondents perceived higher threat of dengue to society were more likely to practice mosquito prevention. While residential factors affected their indoor prevention, other socio-demographic factors affected the outdoor prevention. Practicing prevention behaviors were associated with self-reported mosquito bite at home. Furthermore, the general prevention uptake rate unchanged after the announcement of local dengue outbreak. Although the uptake rate of protective measures during August was high, 40% participants reported they were bitten. Also public locations are more common area for bites, which suggested stronger mosquito prevention and control on public environments and more personal protective behaviors should be advocated.
It is not known whether socioeconomic disparities affect the detection of breast cancer in Asian countries where the incidence of breast cancer is a rising trend. In this study, we explore the ...socioeconomic profiles of women and the stage of the disease at the time of diagnosis in breast cancer patients aged 40 or over in Hong Kong.
During the period 2008 to 2011, 5393 breast cancer patients registered with the Hong Kong Breast Cancer Registry. Participants and their clinicians were asked to complete standardised questionnaires including patient socio-demographics, health history and risk factors, the course of the disease, post-treatment physical discomfort and psychosocial impact, follow-up recurrence and survival status.
Monthly household incomes, educational levels and the practice of regular screening are independently associated with the stage of the disease at diagnosis. Higher socioeconomic status and a higher educational level were associated with an earlier stage of the disease at the time of diagnosis. Yearly clinical examinations, ultrasound and mammographic screening every 2 to 3 years were significantly associated with the earlier detection of breast cancer.
There were socioeconomic disparities among Hong Kong women who were found to have breast cancer. Population-based screening policies, including raising awareness among women at risk, should be implemented.
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