Turner Lyle R, Connell Des, Tong Shilu
School of Public Health and Social Work, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
BMJ Open. 2012 Jul 7;2(4). doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-001074. Print 2012.
To investigate the effect of hot and cold temperatures on ambulance attendances.
An ecological time-series study.
The study was conducted in Brisbane, Australia. The authors collected information on 783 935 daily ambulance attendances, along with data of associated meteorological variables and air pollutants, for the period of 2000-2007.
The total number of ambulance attendances was examined, along with those related to cardiovascular, respiratory and other non-traumatic conditions. Generalised additive models were used to assess the relationship between daily mean temperature and the number of ambulance attendances.
There were statistically significant relationships between mean temperature and ambulance attendances for all categories. Acute heat effects were found with a 1.17% (95% CI 0.86% to 1.48%) increase in total attendances for 1°C increase above threshold (0-1 days lag). Cold effects were delayed and longer lasting with a 1.30% (0.87% to 1.73%) increase in total attendances for a 1°C decrease below the threshold (2-15 days lag). Harvesting was observed following initial acute periods of heat effects but not for cold effects.
This study shows that both hot and cold temperatures led to increases in ambulance attendances for different medical conditions. Our findings support the notion that ambulance attendance records are a valid and timely source of data for use in the development of local weather/health early warning systems.
研究高温和低温对救护车出勤情况的影响。
一项生态时间序列研究。
该研究在澳大利亚布里斯班进行。作者收集了2000年至2007年期间783935次每日救护车出勤的信息，以及相关气象变量和空气污染物的数据。
检查救护车出勤总数，以及与心血管、呼吸和其他非创伤性疾病相关的出勤数。采用广义相加模型评估日平均温度与救护车出勤数之间的关系。
所有类别中，平均温度与救护车出勤数之间均存在统计学显著关系。发现急性热效应，温度高于阈值每升高1°C（滞后0 - 1天），出勤总数增加1.17%（95%CI 0.86%至1.48%）。冷效应出现延迟且持续时间更长，温度低于阈值每降低1°C（滞后2 - 15天），出勤总数增加1.30%（0.87%至1.73%）。在热效应的初始急性期后观察到收获效应，但冷效应未见此现象。
本研究表明，高温和低温都会导致不同医疗状况下救护车出勤数增加。我们的研究结果支持以下观点，即救护车出勤记录是用于开发当地天气/健康早期预警系统的有效且及时的数据来源。
