Effects of climate variability on respiratory diseases in the Western Region of Bahia, Brazil.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to analyse hospitalisations for respiratory diseases in the Western Region of Bahia, Northeast Brazil, from 2010 to 2019, and to explore possible correlations with meteorological data.

STUDY DESIGN

This descriptive, epidemiological, ecological study analysed data from 37 municipalities in the Western Bahia health macro-region, defined according to geographical, administrative, demographic, epidemiological, social and cultural criteria, and accounting for availability of health resources.

METHODS

Hospitalisation data for respiratory diseases, including total admissions and disease frequency, mean and prevalence, were obtained from DATASUS (Ministry of Health). The data were evaluated by sex, age group and city. Statistical tests, such as the Chi-squared test and analysis of variance, were used for data analysis. Meteorological data were compared using the t-test and Mann-Whitney test. Correlations between health indicators and weather data were assessed using the Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients.

RESULTS

Over the investigated period, there were 536,195 hospitalisation records in the region, with respiratory diseases accounting for 17.1% of admissions. Notably, 40% of respiratory hospitalisations were among children aged 0-9 years. The most prevalent respiratory conditions were pneumonia and asthma, which together constituted 73% of all respiratory hospitalisations. A significant negative correlation was observed between respiratory diseases and rainfall (r = -0.70, P = 0.011).

CONCLUSIONS

Pneumonia and asthma remain important causes of hospitalisation among children in the Western Bahia Region. The study findings suggest that respiratory diseases are influenced by rainfall, possibly due to increased atmospheric pollutants during time of low rainfall. These findings emphasise the importance of environmental factors in the development and exacerbation of respiratory diseases.