Associations Between Dust Storms and Intensive Care Unit Admissions in the United States, 2000–2015

Abstract

Anthropogenic climate change is influencing the incidence of dust storms and associated human exposure to coarse particulate matter (PM2.5–10) in the United States. Studies have found adverse health consequences related to dust exposure. These consequences include respiratory disease exacerbations and premature mortality, resulting in increased health care utilization. However, the impact of dust storms on critical care demand has not been studied in the United States. We seek to quantify the relationship between dust storms and surges in critical care demand by investigating the association between dust storms and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions at nearby hospitals from 2000 to 2015. ICU data were acquired from Premier, Inc. and encompass 15–20% of all ICU admissions in the United States. Dust storm, meteorology, and air pollutant data were downloaded from the U.S. National Weather Service, the U.S. National Climatic Data Center, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency websites, respectively. Associations between ICU admission and dust storms, controlling for temperature, dew point temperature, ambient PM2.5 and ozone, as well as seasonally varying confounders, were estimated using a distributed lag conditional Poisson model with overdispersion. We found a 4.8% (95% CI: 0.4, 9.4; p = 0.033) increase in total ICU admissions on the day of the dust storm (Lag 0) and a 9.2% (95% CI: 1.8, 17.0; p = 0.013) and 7.5% (95% CI: 0.3, 15.2; p = 0.040) increase in respiratory admissions at Lags 0 and 5. North American dust storms are associated with increases in same day and lagged demand for critical care services at nearby hospitals.

Associations Between Wildfire‐Related PM2.5 and Intensive Care Unit Admissions in the United States, 2006–2015

“…However, for privacy reasons, we were not able to access detailed information on individual partner hospitals or patients. Similar ICU data from Premier were used in a recent epidemiology study of dust storms (Rublee et al., 2020).…”

Positive Externalities of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation for Human Health: A Review and Conceptual Framework for Public Health Research

“…In addition to extreme heat or cold, deserts and droughts from the rising temperatures [ 45 ] promote dust storms [ 46 ]. Dust storms have been associated with increased cardiopulmonary related hospital emergency visits [ 47 ], increased hospital stroke related admissions [ 48 ], increased intensive care unit admissions [ 49 ], increased cardiovascular and respiratory mortality in Spain [ 50 ], increased asthma related hospital admissions for children in Japan [ 51 ], and increased hospital admissions for pneumonia in Taiwan [ 52 ]. In addition to dust storms, flooding related changes in ecosystems modify vector transmission and risk of harm to humans [ 53 , 54 ].…”

The role of soils in the regulation of air quality

“…Rublee et al . [35], for example, found that North American dust storms are associated with increases in the same day and lagged demand for critical care services at nearby hospitals. Respiratory ailments are among the most widely noted consequences of dust exposure, but other effects on human health range from cardiovascular ailments, conjunctivitis, dermatological disorders, and even injury and death related to transport accidents from dust [34,36]…”

“…Dust storms present an extreme example of the range of health effects arising from dust exposure and have been well documented in several countries, including developed countries [33,34]. Rublee et al [35], for example, found that North American dust storms are associated with increases in the same day and lagged demand for critical care services at nearby hospitals. Respiratory ailments are among the most widely noted consequences of dust exposure, but other effects on human health range from cardiovascular ailments, conjunctivitis, dermatological disorders, and even injury and death related to transport accidents from dust [34,36] Health effects may also arise from biotic material carried on soil particles such as bacteria, pollen spores, fungi and viruses.…”