Effect of Climate Factors on the Childhood Pneumonia in Papua New Guinea: A Time-Series Analysis

Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, and Institute of Public Health and Environment, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Korea

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Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan

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Department of Preventive Medicine, Dankook University College of Medicine, 119 Dandae-ro, Dongnam-gu, Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do 31116, Korea

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Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, 1-12-4 Sakamoto Nagasaki 852-8523, Japan

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National Department of Health, P.O. Box 807 Waigani, Port Moresby, National Capital District, Papua New 131, Guinea

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National Weather Service, P.O. Box 1240 Boroko, Port Mresby, National Capital District, Papua New 111, Guinea

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Academic Editor: Jan C. Semenza

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13(2), 213; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13020213

Received: 17 October 2015 / Revised: 13 January 2016 / Accepted: 3 February 2016 / Published: 15 February 2016

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Change and Human Health)

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Abstract

This study aimed to assess the association between climate factors and the incidence of childhood pneumonia in Papua New Guinea quantitatively and to evaluate the variability of the effect size according to their geographic properties. The pneumonia incidence in children under five-year and meteorological factors were obtained from six areas, including monthly rainfall and the monthly average daily maximum temperatures during the period from 1997 to 2006 from national health surveillance data. A generalized linear model was applied to measure the effect size of local and regional climate factor. The pooled risk of pneumonia in children per every 10 mm increase of rainfall was 0.24% (95% confidence interval: −0.01%–0.50%), and risk per every 1 °C increase of the monthly mean of the maximum daily temperatures was 4.88% (95% CI: 1.57–8.30). Southern oscillation index and dipole mode index showed an overall negative effect on childhood pneumonia incidence, −0.57% and −4.30%, respectively, and the risk of pneumonia was higher in the dry season than in the rainy season (pooled effect: 12.08%). There was a variability in the relationship between climate factors and pneumonia which is assumed to reflect distribution of the determinants of and vulnerability to pneumonia in the community. View Full-Text

Keywords: climate; seasonality; tropical area; El Niño southern oscillation; Indian Ocean dipole; meta-analysis; vulnerability; Asia-Pacific

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MDPI and ACS Style

Kim, J.; Kim, J.-H.; Cheong, H.-K.; Kim, H.; Honda, Y.; Ha, M.; Hashizume, M.; Kolam, J.; Inape, K. Effect of Climate Factors on the Childhood Pneumonia in Papua New Guinea: A Time-Series Analysis. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13, 213. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13020213

AMA Style

Kim J, Kim J-H, Cheong H-K, Kim H, Honda Y, Ha M, Hashizume M, Kolam J, Inape K. Effect of Climate Factors on the Childhood Pneumonia in Papua New Guinea: A Time-Series Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2016; 13(2):213. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13020213

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kim, Jinseob, Jong-Hun Kim, Hae-Kwan Cheong, Ho Kim, Yasushi Honda, Mina Ha, Masahiro Hashizume, Joel Kolam, and Kasis Inape. 2016. "Effect of Climate Factors on the Childhood Pneumonia in Papua New Guinea: A Time-Series Analysis" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 13, no. 2: 213. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13020213

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Effect of Climate Factors on the Childhood Pneumonia in Papua New Guinea: A Time-Series Analysis

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