IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v14y2017i10p1143-d113504.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effect Modification by Environmental Quality on the Association between Heatwaves and Mortality in Alabama, United States

Author

Listed:
  • Yun Jian

    (Informatics Institute, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA)

  • Connor Y. H. Wu

    (Department of Population Health Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA)

  • Julia M. Gohlke

    (Department of Population Health Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA)

Abstract

Background : Previous studies have shown that heatwaves are associated with increased mortality. However, it remains unclear whether the associations between heatwaves and mortality are modified by the environmental quality. Methods : We used the United States (US) Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Quality Index (EQI) and its five domain indices (air, water, land, built, and sociodemographic) to represent the cumulative environmental quality. We applied a time-stratified case-crossover design to analyze the disparities in the association between heatwaves and non-accidental deaths (NAD) among counties with different environmental qualities, in metropolitan areas in Alabama (AL), United States. Results : We found significant associations between heatwaves and NAD and a significant effect modification of this relationship by EQI. There were higher odds ratios in counties with the worst cumulative environmental qualities compared to counties with the best cumulative environmental qualities. For example, the percent change in odds ratio (mean and (95% CI)) between heatwave days and non-heatwave days was −10.3% (−26.6, 9.6) in counties with an overall EQI of 1 (the best overall environment) and 13.2% (4.9, 22.2) in counties with an overall EQI of 3 (the worst overall environment). Among the five domains, air quality had the strongest effect modification on the association. Conclusion : Our findings provide evidence that the associations between heatwaves and NAD vary among areas with different environmental qualities. These findings suggest that integration of air quality and heatwave warning systems may provide greater protection to public health.

Suggested Citation

  • Yun Jian & Connor Y. H. Wu & Julia M. Gohlke, 2017. "Effect Modification by Environmental Quality on the Association between Heatwaves and Mortality in Alabama, United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-11, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:10:p:1143-:d:113504
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/10/1143/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/10/1143/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lobdell, D.T. & Jagai, J.S. & Rappazzo, K. & Messer, L.C., 2011. "Data sources for an environmental quality index: Availability, quality, and utility," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 101(SUPPL. 1), pages 277-285.
    2. Lauren Joe & Sumi Hoshiko & Dina Dobraca & Rebecca Jackson & Svetlana Smorodinsky & Daniel Smith & Martha Harnly, 2016. "Mortality during a Large-Scale Heat Wave by Place, Demographic Group, Internal and External Causes of Death, and Building Climate Zone," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-16, March.
    3. Tiffany Smith & Benjamin Zaitchik & Julia Gohlke, 2013. "Heat waves in the United States: definitions, patterns and trends," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 118(3), pages 811-825, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Larsson, Karl, 2023. "Parametric heat wave insurance," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    2. Chenaz B. Seelarbokus, 2014. "Assessing the Effectiveness of International Environmental Agreements (IEAs)," SAGE Open, , vol. 4(1), pages 21582440145, February.
    3. Jintao Zhang & Fang Wang, 2019. "Regional Temperature Response in Central Asia to National Committed Emission Reductions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-15, July.
    4. K. Oleson & A. Monaghan & O. Wilhelmi & M. Barlage & N. Brunsell & J. Feddema & L. Hu & D. Steinhoff, 2015. "Interactions between urbanization, heat stress, and climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 129(3), pages 525-541, April.
    5. Arnold Kamis & Rui Cao & Yifan He & Yuan Tian & Chuyue Wu, 2021. "Predicting Lung Cancer in the United States: A Multiple Model Examination of Public Health Factors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-27, June.
    6. Zheng, Zhonghua & Zhao, Lei & Oleson, Keith W., 2020. "Large model parameter and structural uncertainties in global projections of urban heat waves," Earth Arxiv f5pwa, Center for Open Science.
    7. Frank A. La Sorte & Alison Johnston & Toby R. Ault, 2021. "Global trends in the frequency and duration of temperature extremes," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 1-14, May.
    8. Marissa B Kosnik & David M Reif & Danelle T Lobdell & Thomas Astell-Burt & Xiaoqi Feng & John D Hader & Jane A Hoppin, 2019. "Associations between access to healthcare, environmental quality, and end-stage renal disease survival time: Proportional-hazards models of over 1,000,000 people over 14 years," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(3), pages 1-17, March.
    9. Jagadeesh Puvvula & Azar M. Abadi & Kathryn C. Conlon & Jared J. Rennie & Hunter Jones & Jesse E. Bell, 2022. "Evaluating the Sensitivity of Heat Wave Definitions among North Carolina Physiographic Regions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-13, August.
    10. K. W. Oleson & G. B. Anderson & B. Jones & S. A. McGinnis & B. Sanderson, 2018. "Avoided climate impacts of urban and rural heat and cold waves over the U.S. using large climate model ensembles for RCP8.5 and RCP4.5," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 146(3), pages 377-392, February.
    11. Sida Zhuang & Gabriele Bolte & Tobia Lakes, 2022. "Exploring Environmental Health Inequalities: A Scientometric Analysis of Global Research Trends (1970–2020)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-25, June.
    12. Wentan Dong & Qiang Zeng & Yue Ma & Guoxing Li & Xiaochuan Pan, 2016. "Impact of Heat Wave Definitions on the Added Effect of Heat Waves on Cardiovascular Mortality in Beijing, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-12, September.
    13. Gijbels, Irène & Kika, Vojtěch & Omelka, Marek, 2021. "On the specification of multivariate association measures and their behaviour with increasing dimension," Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    14. Simona Perčič & Andreja Kukec & Tanja Cegnar & Ana Hojs, 2018. "Number of Heat Wave Deaths by Diagnosis, Sex, Age Groups, and Area, in Slovenia, 2015 vs. 2003," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-16, January.
    15. Sinha, Paramita & Coville, Robert C. & Hirabayashi, Satoshi & Lim, Brian & Endreny, Theodore A. & Nowak, David J., 2021. "Modeling lives saved from extreme heat by urban tree cover✰," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 449(C).
    16. Steffen Merte, 2017. "Estimating heat wave-related mortality in Europe using singular spectrum analysis," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 142(3), pages 321-330, June.
    17. Ruopeng An & Xinye Li & Ning Jiang, 2017. "Geographical Variations in the Environmental Determinants of Physical Inactivity among U.S. Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-10, October.
    18. Hadi Beygi Heidarlou & Melina Gholamzadeh Bazarbash & Stelian Alexandru Borz, 2024. "Unveiling the Role of Climate and Environmental Dynamics in Shaping Forest Fire Patterns in Northern Zagros, Iran," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-19, September.
    19. Jane E. Gallagher & Elaine Cohen Hubal & Laura Jackson & Jefferson Inmon & Edward Hudgens & Ann H. Williams & Danelle Lobdell & John Rogers & Timothy Wade, 2013. "Sustainability, Health and Environmental Metrics: Impact on Ranking and Associations with Socioeconomic Measures for 50 U.S. Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-16, February.
    20. Chuan-Yao Lin & Yi-Yun Chien & Chiung-Jui Su & Mien-Tze Kueh & Shih-Chun Lung, 2017. "Climate variability of heat wave and projection of warming scenario in Taiwan," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 145(3), pages 305-320, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:10:p:1143-:d:113504. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.