TY - JOUR
T1 - Association between rainfall and readmissions of rheumatoid arthritis patients
T2 - a time-stratified case-crossover analysis
AU - Xie, Jingui
AU - Zhu, Yongjian
AU - Fan, Yiming
AU - Xin, Ling
AU - Liu, Jian
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, ISB.
PY - 2020/1/1
Y1 - 2020/1/1
N2 - It has been reported that local weather is associated with the symptoms of joint pain in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and many people believe their pain becomes worse when facing rainy days. However, limited studies explored the effects of weather on RA patients’ healthcare-seeking behavior. Our study aimed to investigate the relationship between rainfall and readmission behavior of patients with RA in Hefei, China, based on hospitalization data from the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine from May 2012 to June 2016 and weather data from National Meteorological Information Center during the same study period. Using a time-stratified case-crossover study design and conditional logistic regression, we found a negative association between current day rainfall and readmission (unadjusted: OR = 0.82, p < 0.05; adjusted: OR = 0.83, p < 0.1), which is contrary to our common belief. In lagged models, we observed that rainfall was significantly and positively associated with readmissions at lag 6 days (unadjusted: OR = 1.12, p < 0.1; adjusted: OR = 1.17, p < 0.05) and lag 7 days (unadjusted: OR = 1.13, p < 0.05; adjusted: OR = 1.21, p < 0.01). Additionally, stratified analyses showed the unanticipated finding was only statistically significant for younger patients (< 65 years) and females. Our study adds new evidence that the association between the healthcare-seeking behavior of patients with RA and local rainfall may be different, compared with the positive relationship between symptoms of joint pain and rainfall.
AB - It has been reported that local weather is associated with the symptoms of joint pain in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and many people believe their pain becomes worse when facing rainy days. However, limited studies explored the effects of weather on RA patients’ healthcare-seeking behavior. Our study aimed to investigate the relationship between rainfall and readmission behavior of patients with RA in Hefei, China, based on hospitalization data from the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine from May 2012 to June 2016 and weather data from National Meteorological Information Center during the same study period. Using a time-stratified case-crossover study design and conditional logistic regression, we found a negative association between current day rainfall and readmission (unadjusted: OR = 0.82, p < 0.05; adjusted: OR = 0.83, p < 0.1), which is contrary to our common belief. In lagged models, we observed that rainfall was significantly and positively associated with readmissions at lag 6 days (unadjusted: OR = 1.12, p < 0.1; adjusted: OR = 1.17, p < 0.05) and lag 7 days (unadjusted: OR = 1.13, p < 0.05; adjusted: OR = 1.21, p < 0.01). Additionally, stratified analyses showed the unanticipated finding was only statistically significant for younger patients (< 65 years) and females. Our study adds new evidence that the association between the healthcare-seeking behavior of patients with RA and local rainfall may be different, compared with the positive relationship between symptoms of joint pain and rainfall.
KW - Rainfall
KW - Readmission
KW - Rheumatoid arthritis
KW - Time-stratified case-crossover analysis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074583096&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00484-019-01805-y
DO - 10.1007/s00484-019-01805-y
M3 - Article
C2 - 31650297
AN - SCOPUS:85074583096
SN - 0020-7128
VL - 64
SP - 145
EP - 153
JO - International Journal of Biometeorology
JF - International Journal of Biometeorology
IS - 1
ER -