4.6 Article

An ecological study of chronic kidney disease in five Mesoamerican countries: associations with crop and heat

Journal

BMC PUBLIC HEALTH
Volume 21, Issue 1, Pages -

Publisher

BMC
DOI: 10.1186/s12889-021-10822-9

Keywords

Chronic kidney disease (CKD); Mesoamerican nephropathy (MeN); Chronic kidney disease of non-traditional origin (CKDnt); Chronic kidney disease of uncertain etiology (CKDu); Heat stress; Agriculture; Occupation

Funding

  1. Swedish Research Council [2017-5426]
  2. La Isla Network
  3. NOAA, USA
  4. NSF, USA
  5. UKRI, United Kingdom
  6. University of Gothenburg
  7. PREP (Protection Resilience Efficiency and Prevention for workers in industrial agriculture in a changing climate) - Forte, Sweden [2019-01548]
  8. Vinnova [2019-01548] Funding Source: Vinnova
  9. Swedish Research Council [2019-01548] Funding Source: Swedish Research Council
  10. Natural Environment Research Council [NE/T013702/1] Funding Source: researchfish
  11. Forte [2019-01548] Funding Source: Forte

Ask authors/readers for more resources

The study found regions with high CKD burden in all five countries in Mesoamerica, with hot regions and intense sugarcane cultivation showing higher burden. This suggests heavy physical labor and heat as key risk factors for CKDnt.
BackgroundMesoamerica is severely affected by an epidemic of Chronic Kidney Disease of non-traditional origin (CKDnt), an epidemic with a marked variation within countries. We sought to describe the spatial distribution of CKDnt in Mesoamerica and examine area-level crop and climate risk factors.MethodsCKD mortality or hospital admissions data was available for five countries: Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica and linked to demographic, crop and climate data. Maps were developed using Bayesian spatial regression models. Regression models were used to analyze the association between area-level CKD burden and heat and cultivation of four crops: sugarcane, banana, rice and coffee.ResultsThere are regions within each of the five countries with elevated CKD burden. Municipalities in hot areas and much sugarcane cultivation had higher CKD burden, both compared to equally hot municipalities with lower intensity of sugarcane cultivation and to less hot areas with equally intense sugarcane cultivation, but associations with other crops at different intensity and heat levels were not consistent across countries.ConclusionMapping routinely collected, already available data could be a first step to identify areas with high CKD burden. The finding of higher CKD burden in hot regions with intense sugarcane cultivation which was repeated in all five countries agree with individual-level studies identifying heavy physical labor in heat as a key CKDnt risk factor. In contrast, no associations between CKD burden and other crops were observed.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.6
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available