Associations between personal apparent temperature exposures and asthma symptoms in children with asthma

Abstract

Ambient temperature and relative humidity can affect asthma symptoms. Apparent temperature is a measure of temperature perceived by humans that takes into account the effect of humidity. However, the potential link between personal exposures to apparent temperature and asthma symptoms has not been investigated. We conducted a panel study of 37 asthmatic children, aged 5–11 years, during an early spring season (average daily ambient temperature: 14°C, range: 7–18°C). Asthma symptoms were measured 4 times for each participant with a 2-week interval between consecutive measurements using the Childhood Asthma-Control Test (C-ACT). Average, minimum, and maximum personal apparent temperature exposures, apparent temperature exposure variability (TV), and average ambient temperature were calculated for the 12 hours, 24 hours, week, and 2 weeks prior to each visit. We found that a 10°C lower in 1-week and 2-week average & minimum personal apparent temperature exposures, TV, and average ambient temperature exposures were significantly associated with lower total C-ACT scores by up to 2.2, 1.4, 3.3, and 1.4 points, respectively, indicating worsened asthma symptoms. Our results support that personal apparent temperature exposure is potentially a stronger driver than ambient temperature exposures for the variability in asthma symptom scores. Maintaining a proper personal apparent temperature exposure could be an effective strategy for personalized asthma management.

Effects of apparent temperature on daily outpatient and inpatient visits for cause-specific respiratory diseases in Ganzhou, China: a time series study

“…The AT has been observed to more objectively reflect human thermal perception compared to the mere ambient temperature in the European study [ 52 ]. He et al found AT exposure were more effective than ambient temperature in influencing variability of asthma symptoms [ 53 ]. However, the effectiveness of ambient temperature and AT of the perception of cold stress was not well established.…”