Associations Between Anthropogenic Factors, Meteorological Factors, and Cause-Specific Emergency Department...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Epidemiology
• Public Health

Background:

• Unpredictable emergency department (ED) admissions strain healthcare resources.
• Understanding environmental triggers for ED visits is crucial for resource allocation and public health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the associations between ambient air pollutants, meteorological factors, and cause-specific ED admissions.
• To quantify the contribution of these environmental exposures to ED visit burdens.

Main Methods:

• Utilized generalized additive models to assess non-linear associations between environmental exposures and ED admissions.
• Analyzed 2,655,861 cause-specific ED admissions from 2014-2018.
• Calculated Incidence Rate Ratios (IRR) and Population Attributable Fractions (PAF).

Main Results:

• Increased rainfall was linked to higher ED admissions for respiratory infections (IRR: 1.06) and infectious diseases (IRR: 1.09).
• High wind speeds (>12.73 km/hr) correlated with increased ED visits for respiratory infections (IRR: 1.12) and oral diseases (IRR: 1.58).
• Air pollutants like PM10 and CO were associated with elevated risks for cardiovascular diseases, respiratory infections, and diabetes mellitus.

Conclusions:

• Meteorological factors can have protective effects, while air pollutants demonstrate deleterious impacts on various ED admission categories.
• Environmental exposures significantly contribute to the burden of specific ED admissions, highlighting the need for mitigation strategies.