Reddam Aalekhya, Mujtaba Mohammed Nuhu, Tuholske Cascade, Kaali Seyram, Ae-Ngibise Kenneth Ayuurebobi, Wylie Blair J, Medgyesi Danielle N, Boamah-Kaali Ellen, Baccarelli Andrea A, Agyei Oscar, Chillrud Steve N, Asante Kwaku Poku, Jack Darby W, Lee Alison G, Abubakari Sulemana Watara
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States.
Kintampo Health Research Centre, Research and Development Division, Ghana Health Service, Kintampo, Ghana.
Environ Res. 2025 Feb 1;266:120557. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.120557. Epub 2024 Dec 7.
Previous studies - primarily in high income countries - have shown that high prenatal temperatures are associated with adverse birth outcomes. However, these studies are mostly focused on average exposure across the full gestational period or short-term exposure immediately prior to delivery and may miss important sensitive windows of exposure in utero. Further, nearly all use ambient air temperature data, which neglect physiologically important interactions between air temperature and humidity. The Ghana Randomized Air Pollution and Health Study (GRAPHS) recruited pregnant individuals from 2013 to 2015 from communities in the Kintampo North Municipality and Kintampo South District of Ghana. We estimated daily maximum shaded wet bulb globe temperature (WBGTmax) and heat index (HImax) during pregnancy and examined associations with birth weight, birth length, head circumference, and incidence of low birth weight, preterm birth, and small for gestational age. Using linear regression analyses, trimester average models identified that higher WBGTmax in the first trimester was associated with larger head circumference; second trimester was associated with shorter birth length, lower birth weight and higher odds of preterm birth, and third trimester was associated with shorter gestational age and larger head circumference. Time-varying analyses using distributed lag nonlinear models find that, compared to the median, lower WBGTmax and HImax (25th percentile) during the first half of pregnancy was associated with higher birth weight and longer birth length. Compared to the median, lower WBGTmax and HImax (25th percentile) in the second half of pregnancy was associated with smaller head circumference while higher wet bulb globe temperature (75th percentile) was associated with larger head circumference. Overall, our study identified that higher WBGTmax and HImax are associated with pregnancy duration and newborn size. Given the overall trend in our study area of rising temperatures, these data suggest that adaptation strategies are urgently needed to protect child health.
先前的研究——主要是在高收入国家进行的——表明,孕期高温与不良出生结局有关。然而,这些研究大多关注整个孕期的平均暴露情况或临产前的短期暴露,可能会忽略子宫内重要的敏感暴露窗口期。此外,几乎所有研究都使用环境气温数据,而忽略了气温与湿度之间重要的生理相互作用。加纳随机空气污染与健康研究(GRAPHS)于2013年至2015年在加纳金坦波北市和金坦波南区的社区招募了孕妇。我们估算了孕期每日最高遮荫湿球黑球温度(WBGTmax)和热指数(HImax),并研究了它们与出生体重、出生身长、头围以及低出生体重、早产和小于胎龄儿发生率之间的关联。通过线性回归分析,孕早期平均模型发现,孕早期较高的WBGTmax与较大的头围有关;孕中期与较短的出生身长、较低的出生体重和较高的早产几率有关,孕晚期与较短的孕周和较大的头围有关。使用分布滞后非线性模型进行的时变分析发现,与中位数相比,孕早期前半段较低的WBGTmax和HImax(第25百分位数)与较高的出生体重和较长的出生身长有关。与中位数相比,孕晚期后半段较低的WBGTmax和HImax(第25百分位数)与较小的头围有关,而较高的湿球黑球温度(第75百分位数)与较大的头围有关。总体而言,我们的研究发现,较高的WBGTmax和HImax与孕期时长和新生儿大小有关。鉴于我们研究区域气温上升的总体趋势,这些数据表明迫切需要采取适应策略来保护儿童健康。