The Impact of Weather on Hospitalization due to Pneumonia Among Children in Nghe An from 2015 to 2019

Abstract

This paper studies the impact of weather on the number of under 15-year-old children hospitalized for pneumonia at Nghe An Pediatric Hospital using time series analysis of the data collected from 2015 to 2019. The study was carried out on 45,466 children, most of whom were under 16 years old. The study results show that there was a statistically significant inverse correlation between mean daily temperature and children’s hospitalization for pneumonia while humidity was positively correlated. Specifically, when the average daily temperature increased by 1 degree Celsius, the risk of hospitalization for pneumonia on the same day decreased by 1% (95% CI: 0.3 - 1.7%); whereas when the humidity increased, the risk of hospitalization increased by 14.4% (95% CI: 0.2 - 30.7%) on the day of hospitalization; risk increased by 16.5% (95% CI: 9.5 - 23.9%) one day before hospitalization; and risk increased by 15.2% (95% CI: 8.2 - 22.7%) two days before hospitalization. The results suggest that children are highly sensitive to weather factors, including temperature and humidity; therefore, it is necessary to take measures to protect children against changing weather.

Keywords

Weather, pneumonia, children, effect.

References

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