What Are the Effects of Meteorological Factors on Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease?

Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the greatest global public health challenges. Acute exacerbations of COPD lead to the accelerated deterioration of lung function, reduced quality of life, a higher number of hospitalizations, and increased mortality. The factor causing the exacerbation is usually an infectious agent, but the impact of environmental factors is being studied more thoroughly. Among them, meteorological factors are the least examined. Multiple studies have shown that lower temperatures during the cold season, as well as sudden temperature changes regardless of the season, have the most significant negative effect on patients with COPD. However, higher temperatures, especially during summer heatwaves, can also cause COPD exacerbation and it is expected that this will be an even more important health problem in the future considering climate changes. The effects of other meteorological factors on acute exacerbation of COPD, such as atmospheric pressure, solar radiation, rainfall, wind speed, and humidity are far less investigated and opposing results have been obtained in different studies. Thus, there is a need for further research in this area that would result in clinical recommendations and public health interventions that could decrease the global burden of COPD.

How Vulnerable Are Patients with COPD to Weather Extremities?—A Pilot Study from Hungary

“…Our analysis demonstrated that extreme low temperatures and dew points, light wind speeds, high precipitation, and extreme high atmospheric pressure were risk factors for a higher number of COPD-related emergency visits. In agreement with our results, a literature review clearly showed that lower temperatures had a significant negative effect on patients with COPD [ 25 ]. A study from Poland reported significant negative correlations between the average temperature (r = −0.577), minimum temperature (r = −0.526), and dew point (r = −0.589) and an increased number of COPD-related ED visits with a significance level of p < 0.01 [ 26 ].…”

Adherence, Disease Control, and Misconceptions Related to the Use of Inhalation Therapy in Patients with Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…One of the important characteristics of obstructive respiratory diseases is their chronic course with a high frequency of exacerbations [1,5,34,35]. Accordingly, a significant part of the A group in our sample consisted of long-term patients in whom exacerbations of the underlying disease occurred in more than 50% of cases.…”

Effect of high-level fine particulate matter and its interaction with meteorological factors on AECOPD in Shijiazhuang, China

“…Finally, we chose a 7-day lag period for this study. In addition, temperature and relative humidity have previously been shown to be associated with the AECOPD 17 , 18 , 27 . Taken together, the formula for the multiple pollutants model was specified as: where E(Yt) is the expected daily count of AECOPD cases on day t ; β is the intercept; and is the effect estimate of PM 2.5 p days before the onset day of AECOPD.…”

“…Recent epidemiological studies have indicated a positive association between low-level PM 2.5 exposure and the risk of AECOPD 12 – 15 . Some studies have also suggested that extreme meteorological conditions are associated with the occurrence of AECOPD 16 – 18 . However, few studies have explored the effect of high-level PM 2.5 and its interaction with meteorological factors on the development of AECOPD.…”