The association between heatwaves and risk of hospitalization in Brazil: A nationwide time series study between 2000 and 2015

by Qi Zhao, Shanshan Li, Micheline S. Z. S. Coelho, Paulo H. N. Saldiva, Kejia Hu, Rachel R. Huxley, Michael J. Abramson, Yuming Guo BackgroundTo our knowledge, no study has assessed the association between heatwaves and risk of hospitalization and how it may change over time in Brazil. We quantified the heatwave –hospitalization association in Brazil during 2000–2015. Methods and findingsDaily data on hospitalization and temperature were collected from 1,814 cities (>78% of the national population) in the hottest five consecutive months during 2000 –2015. Twelve types of heatwaves were defined with daily mean temperatures of ≥90th, 92.5th, 95th, or 97.5th percentiles of year-round temperature and durations of ≥2, 3, or 4 consecutive days. The city-specific association was estimated using a quasi-Poisson regression with constrained distri buted lag model and then pooled at the national level using random-effect meta-analysis. Stratified analyses were performed by five regions, sex, 10 age groups, and nine cause categories. The temporal change in the heatwave–hospitalization association was assessed using a time-varying constrained distributed lag model. Of the 58,400,682 hospitalizations (59% women), 24%, 34%, 21%, and 19% of cases were aged
Source: PLoS Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Source Type: research