ArticleEnvironment international2023
Long-term exposure to summer specific humidity and cardiovascular disease hospitalizations in the US Medicare population.
Article in Environment international, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Toward a Unified Framework for Climate and Health Research: Gaps in Exposure Metrics and Health Outcomes.Journal of Korean medical science · 2026Review
- [Environmental relative humidity, frailty, and risk of incident stroke among middle-aged and older adults in China: A prospective cohort study].Zhong nan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Central South University. Medical sciences · 2026Article
- Non-traditional Environmental and Cultural Determinants of Cardiovascular Disease in India: A Narrative Review.Cureus · 2026Review
- Association between long-term extreme high temperature and mortality: a 9-million prospective cohort study.BMC medicine · 2026Article
- Air Pollution Within the Public Health Exposome Framework: Impacts on Cardiovascular Health.Current epidemiology reports · 2026Review
- Changes in physiological parameters and thermal comfort when wearing protective clothing in long-range aeromedical evacuation: a prospective, non-blinded, two-stage crossover self-controlled study.Journal of physiological anthropology · 2025Article
- Long-Term Wildfire Smoke Exposure and Increased Risk of Heart Failure in Older Adults.Journal of the American College of Cardiology · 2025Article
- Comparing the Role of Relative and Absolute Humidity in Heat-Related Mortality: A Case Time-Series Study in South Korea.Environmental health perspectives · 2025Article
- Extreme heat and hospital admissions in older adults: A small-area analysis in the Greater Boston metropolitan area.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2025Article
- Associations of heatwaves and their characteristics with ischaemic stroke hospital admissions.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Effects of Extreme Humidity and Heat on Ventricular Arrhythmia Risk in Patients With Cardiac Devices.JACC. Advances · 2025Article
- Short-term exposure to a high-humidity environment triggers intestinal inflammation via AQP3.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Association between low-concentration PMFrontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Temperature and carotid intima-medial thickness: The coronary artery risk development in young adults (CARDIA) study.The Science of the total environment · 2024Article
- Environmental Impacts on Cardiovascular Health and Biology: An Overview.Circulation research · 2024Review
- Exploring the effect of a sweltering environment on the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Article
- Nationwide Geospatial Analysis to Identify Variations in Primary Cardiovascular Risk in Ethiopia.Journal of primary care & community healthArticle
- Mental distress and climate-related coastal hazards: Evidence from national studies in Indonesia.The journal of climate change and healthArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionMost climate-health studies focus on temperature; however, less is known about health effects of exposure to atmospheric moisture. Humid air limits sweat evaporation from the body and can in turn exert strain on the cardiovascular system. We evaluated associations of long-term exposure to summer specific humidity with cardiovascular disease (CVD), coronary heart disease (CHD) and cerebrovascular disease (CBV) hospitalization.
methodsWe built an open cohort consisting of ∼63 million fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries, aged ≥65, living in the contiguous US (2000-2016). We assessed zip code level summer average specific humidity and specific humidity variability, based on daily estimates from the Gridded Surface Meteorological dataset (∼4km spatial resolution). To estimate associations of summer specific humidity with first CVD, CHD, and CBV hospitalization, we used Cox-equivalent Poisson models adjusted for individual and area-level socioeconomic status indicators, temperature, and winter specific humidity.
resultsHigher summer average specific humidity was associated with an increased risk of CVD, CHD, and CBV hospitalization. We found hazard ratios (HRs) of 1.07 (95%CI: 1.07, 1.08) for CVD hospitalization, 1.08 (95%CI: 1.08, 1.09) for CHD hospitalization, and 1.07 (95%CI: 1.07, 1.08) for CBV hospitalization per IQR increase (4.0 g of water vapor/kg of dry air) in summer average specific humidity. Associations of summer average specific humidity were strongest for beneficiaries eligible for Medicaid and for beneficiaries with an unknown or other race. Higher summer specific humidity variability was also associated with increased risk of CVD, CHD, and CBV hospitalization. Associations were not affected by adjustment for temperature and regions of the US, as well as exclusion of potentially prevalent cases.
conclusionLong-term exposure to higher summer average specific humidity and specific humidity variability were positively associated with CVD hospitalization. As global warming could increase humidity levels, our findings are important to assess potential health impacts of climate change.
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