Impacts of cold and hot temperatures on mortality rate in Isfahan, Iran

Publication date: Available online 2 November 2019Source: Journal of Thermal BiologyAuthor(s): Rozhan Gholampour, Mohammad Darand, Amir Hossein HalabianAbstractExposure to cold and hot temperatures is known to have negative impacts on human health. It is the aim of the present study to assess the health effects of cold and hot temperatures on the population living in the city of Isfahan. Daily data on average temperature and mortalities during the nine-year period 2008–2016 were obtained. Mortalities were stratified by causes (non-accidental, cardiovascular, respiratory, and stroke) and by age groups (0–14 years, 15–64 years, and ≥65 years). A standard time-series analysis was conducted using the Poisson model for cause-age-specific mortality effects of temperature, adjusted for seasonal and long-term trends as well as day of the week. Moreover, a distributed non-linear lag model (DNLM) with a 21-day lag time was used to determine the cumulative effects of cold and hot temperatures on mortality using the minimum mortality temperature (hereafter MMT) as the reference. A meta-analytical model was then used to pool the data thus obtained. Extreme temperatures were defied using cutoffs at 2.5th and 97.5th temperature percentiles and mortalities were reported as attributable to temperatures below and above MMT. A U-shaped curve was derived capturing the relationship between average temperature, on the one hand, and all the age and all the mortality cause groups, on the oth...
Source: Journal of Thermal Biology - Category: Biology Source Type: research