Investigation and comparison of climatic elements affecting respiratory diseases in mountainous and plain areas (case study: Ilam province)

Abstract

Climate and air pollution can be a factor affecting human mortality. Ilam province has a different and contradictory climate due to geographical location, climate, and proximity to the deserts of neighboring countries such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the Scattering of its cities. The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the climatic elements affecting respiratory diseases in mountainous regions and plains in Ilam province. The population under study was the number of people referred to Mustafa Khomeini Hospital in Ilam during the five-year statistical period (2009-2013) in both regions. The data on climatic elements in the years between (2009 - 2013) is presented in this study as an independent variable. In the present study, using descriptive and inferential statistics and regression models at a significant level (P <.05), the relationship between climatic elements affecting the rate of respiratory illnesses among patients was investigated. The results of this study show that there is a significant relationship between climatic parameters with patients with respiratory diseases. In temperate and mountainous regions of the province, temperature variables such as mean temperature, air pressure and wind direction, and in plain areas, the number of days of dust, relative humidity and wind direction were significant and influential variables on the rate of hospital visits from respiratory diseases in these areas of the province are. Their coefficient of estimation in the Poisson regression model in each city for each unit increases the mean temperature and the number of days of dust on average between 1 to 2 units at the confidence level (.05), which increases the number of patients in the hospital.

Keywords

• climate
• poisson
• respiratory diseases
• ilam