Atmospheric Variability and Prevalence of Common Psychiatric Disorders in South Asia: A Meta-regressive Analysis

ABSTRACT

Background: The review of literature suggests that there is a dearth of meta-analytical study that examines the role of Atmospheric Variability on the prevalence of mental disorders in South Asia. Aims &Objectives: Therefore, the present study explores the moderating role of variability in temperature, air pressure, humidity, and rainfall on the prevalence of Common Psychiatric Disorders in South Asia. Material & Methods: Databases of several web sources, namely, EBSCOhost, PubMed, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar were explored for the studies that had previously observed the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in South Asian countries. Further, articles were also examined manually. Initially, geographical locations (i.e. latitude, longitude, and altitude) of surveyed places were determined. Based on these locations, historical atmospheric data were retrieved. Meta-regression analysis was computed using R –software with ‘metafor’ package. Results: The present Meta-analysis included 32 epidemiological studies consisting of 110402 persons reported a total morbidity in 7935 persons across seven countries of South Asia. Yearly rainfall (z=2.8260, p<0.01), yearly variability in temperature (z=3.7160, p<0.001), yearly variability in humidity (z= -2.4031, p<0.05) appear to have a significant influence on the prevailing patterns of common psychiatric disorders. However, yearly variability in atmospheric pressure did not have a significant influence on the prevalence of mental disorders (z= 1.0364, p>0.300). Conclusion: Discomfort weather conditions such as yearly temperature variability, excessive rainfall, and yearly variability in humidity have a significant role in the occurrence and maintenance of different psychiatric disorders in South Asia.