Background In the context of global warming, studies have turned to assess the temporal trend of the association between temperature and health outcomes, which can be used to reflect whether human beings have adapted to the local temperature. However, most studies have only focused on hot temperature and mortality. We aim to investigate the temporal variations in the association between ambient temperature and hospitalisations for cardiovascular diseases in Queensland, Australia from 1995 to 2016.

The purpose of this study was to examine the changes in severity of anxiety and depression symptoms, stress and sleeping quality after three months of mass quarantine for COVID-19 among undergraduate fresh students compared to their pre-COVID-19 measures. We used participants from the Chinese Undergraduate Cohort (CUC), a national prospective longitudinal study to examine the changes in anxiety and depression symptoms severity, stress and sleep quality after being under mass quarantine for three months. Wilcoxon matched pair signed-rank test was used to compare the lifestyle indicators. Severity of anxiety, depression symptoms, stress and sleep quality were compared with Wilcoxon signed-rank test. We used generalized estimating equation (GEE) to further quantify the change in mental health indicators and sleep quality after the COVID-19 mass quarantine compared to baseline. This study found that there was no deterioration in mental health status among Chinese new undergraduate students in 2020 after COVID-19 mass quarantine compared with the baseline measures in 2019. There was an improvement in sleep quality and anxiety symptoms. After adjusting for age, sex, exercise habit, time spent on mobile gadgets, and time spent outdoors, year 2020 was significantly associated with severity of depression symptoms in males (OR:1.52. 95%CI:1.05–2.20, p-value = 0.027). Year 2020 was significantly associated with the improvement of sleeping quality in total (OR:0.45, 95%CI:0.38–0.52, p < 0.001) and in all the subgroups. This longitudinal study found no deterioration in mental health status among Chinese new undergraduate students after three months of mass quarantine for COVID-19.

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Background Heat exposure is a risk factor for urologic diseases. However, there are limited existing studies that have examined the relationship between high temperatures and urologic disease. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between heat exposure and hospitalizations for urologic diseases in Queensland, Australia, during the hot seasons of 1995–2016 and to quantify the attributable risks. Methods We obtained 238 427 hospitalized cases with urologic diseases from Queensland Health between 1 December 1995 and 31 December 2016. Meteorological data were collected from the Scientific Information for Land Owners—a publicly accessible database of Australian climate data that provides daily data sets for a range of climate variables. A time-stratified, case-crossover design fitted with the conditional quasi-Poisson regression model was used to estimate the associations between temperature and hospitalizations for urologic diseases at the postcode level during each hot season (December–March). Attributable rates of hospitalizations for urologic disease due to heat exposure were calculated. Stratified analyses were performed by age, sex, climate zone, socio-economic factors and cause-specific urologic diseases. Results We found that a 1°C increase in temperature was associated with a 3.3% [95% confidence interval (CI): 2.9%, 3.7%] increase in hospitalization for the selected urologic diseases during the hot season. Hospitalizations for renal failure showed the strongest increase 5.88% (95% CI: 5.25%, 6.51%) among the specific causes of hospital admissions considered. Males and the elderly (≥60 years old) showed stronger associations with heat exposure than females and younger groups. The sex- and age-specific associations with heat exposure were similar across specific causes of urologic diseases. Overall, nearly one-fifth of hospitalizations for urologic diseases were attributable to heat exposure in Queensland. Conclusions Heat exposure is associated with increased hospitalizations for urologic disease in Queensland during the hot season. This finding reinforces the pressing need for dedicated public health-promotion campaigns that target susceptible populations, especially for those more predisposed to renal failure. Given that short-term climate projections identify an increase in the frequency, duration and intensity of heatwaves, this public health advisory will be of increasing urgency in coming years.

Aim. To examine the temporal variations of the association between ambient temperature and mortality for cardiovascular diseases in Queensland, Australia between 1997 and 2013. Methods. We obtained 147 238 cardiovascular deaths data from Queensland Health between 1 January 1997 and 31 December 2013. Time-stratified case-crossover design was fitted via the conditional quasi-Poisson regression with time-varying distributed lag non-linear model to estimate the associations between temperature and cardiovascular mortality. Stratified analyses were performed by age, sex, climate zone, and socioeconomic status. Results. We found a substantial decrease in the cold effect, while there was no significant change in the heat effect. Results of subgroup analyses showed an increasing trend for heat effects in men, people ⩽84 years old, those living in low and middle socioeconomic areas and those living in hot climate areas. There was a decreasing trend for the magnitude of associations between temperature (both cold and hot temperatures) and cardiovascular mortality in people ⩾85 years old and in areas of high socioeconomic status. Conclusions. The associations between cold temperature and cardiovascular mortality decreased in Queensland, Australia between 1997 and 2013, but no declines were observed for hot temperatures. Men, people ⩽84 years old, people living in low and middle socioeconomic score areas and people living in hot climate areas demonstrated increased susceptibility to hot temperatures. Our findings suggest a need for heat awareness health promotion campaigns to enhance adaptation to a warming climate among vulnerable population.

To examine the associations between ambient temperature and hospitalizations for acute kidney injury (AKI) in Queensland, Australia, 1995–2016. Data were collected on a total of 34 379 hospitalizations for AKI from Queensland between 1 January 1995 and 31 December 2016. Meteorological data were downloaded from the Queensland Government’s Department of Environment and Science. We assessed the temperature-AKI relationship using a time-stratified case-crossover design fitted with conditional quasi-Poisson regression model and time-varying distributed lag non-linear model. Stratified analyses were performed by age, sex, climate zone and socioeconomic group. Both cold and hot temperatures were associated with hospitalizations for AKI. There were stronger temperature-AKI associations among women than men. Cold effects were only positive in the ⩾70 years age group. Hot effects were stronger in the ⩽59 years age group than in the >60 years age group. In different climate zone areas, cold effects decreased with increasing local mean temperatures, while hot effects increased. In different socio-economic status groups, hot effects were stronger in the poor areas than the affluent areas. From 1995 to 2016, the magnitude of associations between cold temperature and hospitalizations for AKI decreased, while the hot effect increased. The associations between hot temperature and hospitalizations for AKI become stronger, while the magnitude of cold effect decreased from 1995 to 2016. This trend may accelerate over the coming decades, which warrants further research. More attention is needed toward susceptible population including women, people ⩾70 years, and the people living in hot climate zones and in low socioeconomic status areas.