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Climate Change and Human Health Literature Portal The incidence of asthmatic attacks in Barbados

Climate Change and Human Health Literature Portal

Depradine CA, Lovell EH
2007
The West Indian Medical Journal. 56 (5): 427-432

Asthma is a chronic disease in Barbados with a mean of 10 348 cases per year. This study was underaken to determine the demographic distribution of the asthmatic attacks, their relationship with several meteorological variables and to provide a predictive equation. The study used data on asthmatic attacks provided by the Accident and Emergency Department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and meteorological data from the Barbados Meteorological Office and the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology. The study found that the greatest number of asthmatic attacks occurred in children aged five years or younger, that there was an exponential decrease in asthmatic attacks with age, that the incidence was higher on the eastern side of the island and that there was a higher incidence in males than in females. The statistical analysis found the highest correlations with vapour pressure and a three-week lag relationship between our pressure and asthmatic attacks. A stepwise regression analysis provided a predictive equation.

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Resource Description

    Air Pollution, Indoor Environment, Meteorological Factor, Temperature
    • Air Pollution, Indoor Environment, Meteorological Factor, Temperature: Ground-Level Ozone, Other Air Pollution, Specify
      • Ground-Level Ozone, Other Air Pollution, Specify: NO2
      Air Pollution (other)
    • Air Pollution, Indoor Environment, Meteorological Factor, Temperature: Variability
    Ocean/Coastal
    Non-United States
    • Non-United States: Non-U.S. North America
    Respiratory Impact
    • Respiratory Impact: Asthma
    Research Article
    Vulnerable Population
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