The short-term effect of temperature on non-accidental mortality in Guangzhou, Changsha and Kunming / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the relationship between temperature and non-accidental mortality in Guangzhou, Changsha and Kunming;to evaluate the temperature-related risk of mortality; and thereby to provide scientific evidence for enacting the policy to tackle climate changes.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Daily meteorology data and mortality data were collected in 2006-2009 in Guangzhou, Changsha and Kunming. Distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) was established and applied in a case-crossover design, which controlled the secular trend of time, to estimate the specified effects of temperature on non-accidental mortality at conditions of lag 0-2, lag 0-18 and lag 0-27 days, respectively.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>An obvious seasonal periodicity was found in non-accidental mortality in Guangzhou, Changsha and Kunming during 2006-2009. The mortality number was comparatively high in the winters, and some high temperature days in summer; but was comparatively low in springs and autumn. An L-shaped relationship was found between temperature and mortality in Guangzhou and Kunming and a U-shaped relationship was found in Changsha. When daily mean temperature exceeded 28.2 °C, 24.5°C and 23.2°C, as average temperature increase 1°C, non-accidental mortality increased 4.56% (95%CI:2.74%-6.63%), 5.66% (95%CI:0.22%-12.65%) , -3.94% (95%CI:-32.77%-39.01%) , respectively; when daily mean temperature below 24.8°C, 20.0°C and 17.3°C, as average temperature decrease 1°C, the corresponding increase in non-accidental mortality were 3.28% (95%CI:2.41%-4.10%) (lag 0-18 days), 1.35% (95%CI:0.31%-1.77%) (lag 0-2 days) and 2.42% (95%CI:1.08%-3.27%) (lag 0-27 days) , respectively. The effects of hot weather were acute and short term; while the effects of cold weather had a several days delay, but a longer persistence.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Extreme cold and hot temperature could increase the risk of non-accidental mortality in Guangzhou, Changsha and Kunming. The effects of cold weather had a several days delay, but a longer persistence.</p>

Nonfatal child pedestrian injury in two urban cities of Guangdong Province, China: results from a cross-sectional survey / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To describe the epidemiological characteristics of nonfatal child pedestrian injuries and provide information to help understand an important public-health problem.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>This was a school-based, cross-sectional questionnaire survey. The sample (42 750 children) was obtained from two urban cities of Guangdong Province, China, using multi-stage randomized sampling. Information was collected by the respondents self-reporting in the classroom.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The incidence rate of nonfatal child pedestrian injuries in the cities was 2.0%. Boys had a higher incidence rate (2.6%) than girls (1.4%). Compared to other children, those aged 10 years are at the highest risk. The primary places of occurrence were sidewalks, residential roads, and crosswalks. High-risk behavior of the children immediately prior to injury included mid-block crossings, playing on roads, and crossing on red lights. The major vehicles that caused pedestrian injuries were bicycles, car or vans, and motorcycles. Bruises, fractures, and injuries to the internal organs were the top three types of injuries. Almost 40% of victims were hospitalized, and nearly 30% of the victims suffered long-term disabilities.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>This study shows that nonfatal child pedestrian injuries are a very serious public-health problem in the urban cities of Guangdong. Based on the epidemiological characteristics, prevention strategies and further research should be carried out to reduce the occurrence of injuries.</p>