Renal, cardiovascular, and respiratory outcomes associated with climate change

Environmental exposure such as declining air quality and increasing temperatures can exert detrimental effects on human health, including acute exacerbations of chronic diseases. We aim to investigate the association between these exposures and acute health outcomes in a rural Colorado community. Meteorological and adult emergency department (ED) visit data were retrospectively collected (2013–2017). Daily environmental exposure data included PM10, maximum daily temperature (MDT), and mean humidity and precipitation. Total daily counts of ED diagnoses for myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, urolithiasis, and exacerbation of COPD and asthma, were calculated during the study period. Time series models using generalized estimating equations were fit for each disease and included all four environmental factors. Between 2013 and 2017, asthma and COPD exacerbation accounted for 30.8% and 25.4% of all ED visits (n = 5113), respectively. We found that for every 5°C increase in MDT, the rate of urolithiasis visits increased by 13% (95% CI: 2%, 26%) and for every 10 μg/m3 increase in 3-day moving average PM10, the rate of urolithiasis visits increased by 7% (95% CI: 1%, 13%). The magnitude of association between 3-day moving average PM10 and rate of urolithiasis visits increased with increasing MDT. Associations between climate and other health outcomes were not statistically significant. This retrospective study on ED visits is one of the first to investigate the impact of several environmental exposures on adverse health outcomes in a rural community. Research into mitigating the negative impacts of these environmental exposures on health outcomes is needed.