ebooks logo journals logo reference works logo abstract databases logo
bullet  SIGN IN Register | Why Register? | Got a Voucher? alerts   marked lists   shopping cart 

informaworld

HOME   |   SEARCH   |   BROWSE
    Issues List       Latest Issue       Forthcoming Articles       Volume 17 Issue 1       Subscribe       Article       References       Cited By       Related articles      
firstfirst   < prevprev   Table of contentstoc   next >next   last >>last
Publisher Logo Publication Cover
Search within this journal

The association between climatic factors and childhood illnesses presented to hospital emergency among young children 

Author: Lawrence T. Lam a
Affiliation:   a Discipline of Paediatric and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney, Australia
DOI: 10.1080/09603120601124264
Publication Frequency: 6 issues per year
Published in: journal International Journal of Environmental Health Research, Volume 17, Issue 1 February 2007 , pages 1 - 8
Formats available: HTML (English) : PDF (English)
Article Requests: Order Reprints : Request Permissions


Abstract

There has been an increasing concern about the effect of climatic change on human health in recent years. It has been suggested that young children are particularly at risk due to the reduced regulating mechanism against extreme climatic changes. However, few studies on the associations between climatic factors and childhood illness, specifically among young children, have been found in the literature. This epidemiological study utilized data collected on all young patients aged less than 6 years who presented to an emergency department for a period of two years. Information on climate and outdoor air quality variables was obtained from the Bureau of Meteorology. Data were analysed with various ARIMA time series models for each common childhood illness. Results suggested that maximum daily temperature was a significant risk factor for fever (t = 5.29, p < 0.001) with a regression coefficient of 0.37 (SE = 0.07) and gastroenteritis (t = 2.69, p = 0.007) with a regression coefficient of 0.10 (SE = 0.04). The UV index was also found to be significantly but negatively related to gastroenteritis (t = -2.37, p = 0.018). However, none of the climatic variables were associated with respiratory problems after adjusting for other air quality variables and infectious disease.
Keywords: Climate change; outdoor air quality; common childhood illness; environmental health; temperature
view references (24) : view citations
Bookmark with:
  • CiteULike
  • Del.icio.us
  • BibSonomy
  • Connotea
  • More bookmarks
Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Accessibility | RSS
FAQs in: English . Français . Español . 中文(简体和繁體)
© 2009 Informa plc