Effects of meteorological factors on daily hospital admissions for asthma in adults: a time-series analysis.

Abstract

BackgroundThere is limited evidence for the impacts of meteorological changes on asthma hospital admissions in adults in Shanghai, China.ObjectivesTo quantitatively evaluate the short-term effects of daily mean temperature on asthma hospital admissions.MethodsDaily hospital admissions for asthma and daily mean temperatures between January 2005 and December 2012 were analyzed. After controlling for secular and seasonal trends, weather, air pollution and other confounding factors, a Poisson generalized additive model (GAM) combined with a distributed lag non-linear model were used to explore the associations between temperature and hospital admissions for asthma.ResultsDuring the study periods, there were 15,678 hospital admissions for asthma by residents of Shanghai, an average 5.6 per day. Pearson correlation analysis found a significant negative correlation (r = -0.174, PConclusionsCold temperatures may trigger asthmatic attacks. Effective strategies are needed to protect populations at risk from the effects of cold.