Eun-Hye Yoo1, Youngseob Eum2, John E Roberts3, Qi Gao4, Kai Chen5. 1. Department of Geography, State University of New York at Buffalo, NY, USA. Electronic address: eunhye@buffalo.edu. 2. Department of Geography, State University of New York at Buffalo, NY, USA. 3. Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Buffalo, NY, USA. 4. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China; Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA; Yale Center on Climate Change and Health, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA. 5. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA; Yale Center on Climate Change and Health, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence suggesting that extreme temperatures have an impact on mental disorders. We aimed to explore the effect of extreme temperatures on emergency room (ER) visits for mental health disorders using 2.8 million records from New York State, USA (2009-2016), and to examine potential effect modifications by individuals' age, sex, and race/ethnicity through a stratified analysis to determine if certain populations are more susceptible. METHOD: To assess the short-term impact of daily average temperature on ER visits related to mental disorders, we applied a quasi-Poisson generalized linear model combined with a distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM). The model was adjusted for day of the week, precipitation, as well as long-term and seasonal time trends. We also conducted a meta-analysis to pool the region-specific risk estimates and construct the overall cumulative exposure-response curves for all regions. RESULTS: We found positive associations between short-term exposure to extreme heat (27.07 ∘C) and increased ER visits for total mental disorders, as well as substance abuse, mood and anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and dementia. We did not find any statistically significant difference among any subgroups of the population being more susceptible to extreme heat than any other. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that there is a positive association between short-term exposure to extreme heat and increased ER visits for total mental disorders. This extreme effect was also found across all sub-categories of mental disease, although further research is needed to confirm our finding for specific mental disorders, such as dementia, which accounted for less than 1% of the total mental disorders in this sample.
BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence suggesting that extreme temperatures have an impact on mental disorders. We aimed to explore the effect of extreme temperatures on emergency room (ER) visits for mental health disorders using 2.8 million records from New York State, USA (2009-2016), and to examine potential effect modifications by individuals' age, sex, and race/ethnicity through a stratified analysis to determine if certain populations are more susceptible. METHOD: To assess the short-term impact of daily average temperature on ER visits related to mental disorders, we applied a quasi-Poisson generalized linear model combined with a distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM). The model was adjusted for day of the week, precipitation, as well as long-term and seasonal time trends. We also conducted a meta-analysis to pool the region-specific risk estimates and construct the overall cumulative exposure-response curves for all regions. RESULTS: We found positive associations between short-term exposure to extreme heat (27.07 ∘C) and increased ER visits for total mental disorders, as well as substance abuse, mood and anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and dementia. We did not find any statistically significant difference among any subgroups of the population being more susceptible to extreme heat than any other. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that there is a positive association between short-term exposure to extreme heat and increased ER visits for total mental disorders. This extreme effect was also found across all sub-categories of mental disease, although further research is needed to confirm our finding for specific mental disorders, such as dementia, which accounted for less than 1% of the total mental disorders in this sample.
Authors: Lawrence A Palinkas; Michael S Hurlburt; Cecilia Fernandez; Jessenia De Leon; Kexin Yu; Erika Salinas; Erika Garcia; Jill Johnston; Md Mostafijur Rahman; Sam J Silva; Rob S McConnell Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-09-04 Impact factor: 4.614