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Physiological equivalent temperature (PET) index and respiratory hospital admissions in Ahvaz, southwest of Iran

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Abstract

Although Ahvaz is considered as one of the warmest cities around the world, few epidemiological studies have been conducted on the adverse effects of temperature on human health using thermal indices in this city. This study investigates the relation between physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) and respiratory hospital admissions in Ahvaz. Distributed lag non-linear models (DLNMs) combined with quasi-Poisson regression models were used to investigate the relation between PET and respiratory disease hospital admissions, adjusted for the effect of time trend, air pollutants (NO2, SO2, and PM10), and weekdays. The analysis was performed by utilizing R software. Low PET values significantly decreased the risk of hospital admissions for total respiratory diseases, respiratory diseases in men and women, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), and bronchiectasis. However, low PET (16.9°C) in all lags except lag 0–30 significantly increased the risk of hospital admissions for asthma. The results indicate that in Ahvaz, which has a warm climate, cold weather decreased overall respiratory hospital admissions, except for asthma.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their gratitude to Ms. Yalda Sabaghan for her kind assistance.

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Funding

This study was funded and supported by Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences (Grant No. APRD-9913).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Air Pollution and Respiratory Diseases Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran

    Seyed Hamid Borsi

  2. Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Air Pollution and Respiratory Diseases Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran

    Narges Khodadadi & Maryam Dastoorpoor

  3. Neurology Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

    Narges Khanjani

Authors
  1. Seyed Hamid Borsi
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  2. Narges Khodadadi
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  3. Narges Khanjani
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  4. Maryam Dastoorpoor
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Contributions

SHB and MD designed the project. MD acquired the data. MD analyzed and interpreted the data. NK1 and NK2 wrote the paper. All authors approved the final text.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maryam Dastoorpoor.

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The proposal of this study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences (IR.AJUMS.REC.1399.866).

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Responsible Editor: Lotfi Aleya

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Borsi, S.H., Khodadadi, N., Khanjani, N. et al. Physiological equivalent temperature (PET) index and respiratory hospital admissions in Ahvaz, southwest of Iran. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 51888–51896 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14345-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14345-z

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