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Impact of temperature and relative humidity variability on children's allergic diseases and critical time window
Shumin Yu1, Francis Manyori Bigambo2, Zhiyu Zhou3
1Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 211166, China.
Insights
Environmental factors like temperature and humidity significantly impact children's allergies. Cold weather increases skin and total allergies, while heat reduces food allergies. Humidity levels also play a role in various allergic conditions.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Pediatric Allergy
- Epidemiology
Background:
- The impact of temperature and relative humidity on pediatric allergic diseases remains insufficiently understood.
- Variability in environmental conditions may influence the prevalence and type of allergies in children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between temperature and relative humidity fluctuations and various allergic diseases in children.
- To identify critical time windows for these environmental exposures.
Main Methods:
- Utilized outpatient data from July 2020 to January 2022.
- Employed a distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) with binomial regression.
- Defined temperature and humidity percentiles to represent extreme and moderate conditions.
Main Results:
- Cold temperatures correlated with increased skin and total allergies; hot temperatures with decreased food allergies.
- Low relative humidity was linked to reduced respiratory, skin, and total allergies.
- Extreme high humidity showed mixed effects: decreasing respiratory allergies but increasing skin, food, and total allergies.
Conclusions:
- Environmental temperature and humidity variability are associated with pediatric allergic diseases.
- The direction of these associations varies depending on the specific type of allergy.
Background:
The effects of temperature and relative humidity on different types of children's allergic diseases have not been comprehensively evaluated so far. This study aims to assess the impact of temperature and relative humidity variability on children's allergic diseases and to identify the critical time window.
Methods:
We collected outpatient data on allergen testing in children between July 2020 and January 2022 from the Affiliated Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University. We defined the 1st, 10th, 90th, and 99th percentiles as extreme cold, moderate cold, moderate hot, and extreme hot for temperature, and as low, moderate high, and extreme high for relative humidity, respectively. A distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) combined with a binomial regression model was used to assess the possible nonlinear relationship at different periods. Subgroup analysis by gender and age was conducted.
Results:
We found that extreme and moderate cold temperatures were positively associated with skin allergies and total allergies (28 days: OR = 4.69, 95% CI: 2.88, 7.63; OR = 3.36, 95% CI: 2.39, 4.73) and (28 days: OR = 3.76, CI: 2.43, 5.81; OR = 2.71, 95% CI: 2.00, 3.68), respectively. Moderate and extreme hot temperatures were negatively associated with food allergies (28 days: OR = 0.13, 95% CI: 0.04, 0.41 and OR = 0.04; 95% CI: 0.01, 0.27). Low relative humidity was negatively associated with respiratory allergies, skin allergies, and total allergic diseases (28 days: OR = 0.26, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.71; OR = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.15, 0.55; and OR = 0.42, 95% CI: 0.26, 0.68). Meanwhile, extreme high relative humidity was negatively associated with respiratory allergies, and positively associated with skin allergies, food allergies, and total allergies (28 days: OR = 0.16, 95%CI: 0.07, 0.37; OR = 3.60, 95% CI: 2.52, 5.14; OR = 15.61, 95% CI: 3.23, 75.56; and OR = 2.33, 95% CI: 1.73, 3.15). A stronger relationship between temperature, relative humidity, and allergic diseases was observed in children under 5 years, specifically girls.
Conclusions:
Our study provides evidence that temperature and relative humidity variability may be associated with allergic diseases, however, the directionality of the relationship differs by allergic type.
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