Effect of cold winters on the risk of new asthma: a case-crossover study in Finland

Cold weather increases respiratory symptoms and provokes exacerbations of asthma, but there are no previous studies on its role in the aetiology of asthma.

We tested the hypothesis that a cold winter increases the risk of developing asthma during the following 1 to 2 years.

We conducted a case-crossover study of 315 newly diagnosed cases of asthma from the population-based Espoo Cohort Study from birth to the age of 27 years. The hazard period constituted 3 winter months preceding the onset of asthma and bidirectional reference periods of 1 year before hazard period and 1 year after onset of asthma. Exposure constituted average ambient temperature during the winter months of December, January and February. The outcome of interest was new doctor-diagnosed asthma. The measure of effect was OR of asthma estimated by conditional logistic regression analysis.

The average winter temperature for the study period from winter 1983 to 2010 was -4.4°C (range -10.7 to 0.4). A 1°C decrease in the average winter temperature predicted a 7% increase in the risk of new asthma (OR=1.07, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.13). A cold winter with an average temperature below the climate normal value (-4.5°C; period 1981-2010) increased the risk of new asthma by 41% during the following year (OR: 1.41; 95% CI 1.04 to 1.90).

This case-crossover study provides original evidence that a cold winter with below normal average temperatures increases the risk of developing new asthma during the following 1 to 2 years.