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Health Benefits of Residence at Moderate Altitude Do Not Reduce COVID-19 Mortality

Author

Listed:
  • Johannes Burtscher

    (Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Lausanne, CH-1005 Lausanne, Switzerland
    Institute of Sport Sciences, University of Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland)

  • Gregoire P. Millet

    (Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Lausanne, CH-1005 Lausanne, Switzerland
    Institute of Sport Sciences, University of Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland)

  • Barbara Leitner

    (Directorate Population, Statistics Austria, A-1110 Vienna, Austria)

  • Martin Burtscher

    (Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
    Austrian Society for Alpine and High-Altitude Medicine, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria)

Abstract

Moderate altitude (1000–2000 m above sea level) residence is emerging as a protective factor from the mortality of various causes, including of cardiovascular diseases. Conversely, mortality from certain respiratory diseases is higher at these altitudes than in lowlands. These divergent outcomes could indicate either beneficial or detrimental effects of altitude on the mortality of COVID-19 that primarily infects the respiratory tract but results in multi-organ damage. Previous epidemiological data indeed suggest divergent outcomes of moderate to high altitude residence in various countries. Confounding factors, such as variations in the access to clinical facilities or selection biases of investigated populations, may contribute to the equivocation of these observations. We interrogated a dataset of the complete population of an Alpine country in the center of Europe with relatively similar testing and clinical support conditions across altitude-levels of residence (up to around 2000 m) to assess altitude-dependent mortality from COVID-19 throughout 2020. While a reduced all-cause mortality was confirmed for people living higher than 1000 m, no differences in the mortality from COVID-19 between the lowest and the highest altitude regions were observed for the overall population and the population older than 60 years as well. Conversely, COVID-19 mortality seems to have been reduced in the very old (>85 years) women at moderate altitudes.

Suggested Citation

  • Johannes Burtscher & Gregoire P. Millet & Barbara Leitner & Martin Burtscher, 2022. "Health Benefits of Residence at Moderate Altitude Do Not Reduce COVID-19 Mortality," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-7, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:23:p:16074-:d:990067
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Esteban Ortiz-Prado & Katherine Simbaña-Rivera & Raul Fernandez-Naranjo & Jorge Eduardo Vásconez & Aquiles R. Henriquez-Trujillo & Alexander Paolo Vallejo-Janeta & Ismar A. Rivera-Olivero & Tannya Loz, 2022. "SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load Analysis at Low and High Altitude: A Case Study from Ecuador," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-10, June.
    2. Jeongeun Hwang & Miso Jang & Namkug Kim & Seunghyun Choi & Yeon-Mok Oh & Joon Beom Seo, 2018. "Positive association between moderate altitude and chronic lower respiratory disease mortality in United States counties," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(7), pages 1-10, July.
    3. Ennio Cascetta & Ilaria Henke & Luigi Di Francesco, 2021. "The Effects of Air Pollution, Sea Exposure and Altitude on COVID-19 Hospitalization Rates in Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-11, January.
    4. Karla Romero Starke & René Mauer & Ethel Karskens & Anna Pretzsch & David Reissig & Albert Nienhaus & Anna Lene Seidler & Andreas Seidler, 2021. "The Effect of Ambient Environmental Conditions on COVID-19 Mortality: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-20, June.
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