The effect of high temperatures on risk of hospitalization in northern Vietnam

Vietnam is one Southeast Asian country most vulnerable to climate change. By the end of the twenty-first century, temperature could rise above 5 degrees C across Vietnam according to the IPCC highest emission pathway scenario. However, research on the temperature-health effects from the geographically diverse sub-tropical northern region of Vietnam is limited making location specific health system preparedness difficult. This study examines the elevated temperature-hospitalization relationship for the seven provinces in northern Vietnam by using generalized linear and distributed lag models. A random-effect meta-analysis was used to estimate the pooled temperature hospitalizations risks for all causes, and for infectious, cardiovascular, and respiratory diseases. The pooled estimates show a significant effect of high temperature on hospitalizations for the same day (lag 0), when a 1 degrees C increase in temperature above 24 degrees C was significantly associated with 1.1% (95% CI, 0.9-1.4%) increased risk for all-cause hospital admissions, 2.4% (95% CI, 1.9-2.9%) increased risk for infectious disease admissions, 0.5% (95% CI, 0.1-0.9%) increased risk for cardiovascular disease admissions, and 1.3% (95% CI, 0.9-1.6%) increased risk for respiratory disease admissions. This research adds to the scant evidence examining heat and health morbidity effects in sub-tropical climates and has important implications for better understanding and preparing for the future impacts of climate change related temperature on Vietnam residents.

Automated summary

Vietnam is one of the most vulnerable countries in Southeast Asia to climate change, with the northern sub-tropical region lacking research on temperature-health effects, making specific health system preparedness challenging. This study found a significant effect of high temperature on hospitalizations on the same day, particularly for infectious and respiratory diseases.