Prenatal acute thermophysiological stress and spontaneous preterm birth in Western Australia, 2000–2015: A space-time-stratified case-crossover analysis
Epidemiologic evidence on acute heat and cold stress and preterm birth (PTB) is inconsistent and based on ambient temperature rather than a thermophysiological index. The aim of this study was to use a spatiotemporal thermophysiological index (Universal Thermal Climate Index, UTCI) to investigate pr...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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ELSEVIER GMBH
2022
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| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1195716 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/93792 |
| _version_ | 1848765791319621632 |
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| author | Nyadanu, Sylvester Tessema, Gizachew Mullins, Ben Pereira, Gavin |
| author_facet | Nyadanu, Sylvester Tessema, Gizachew Mullins, Ben Pereira, Gavin |
| author_sort | Nyadanu, Sylvester |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Epidemiologic evidence on acute heat and cold stress and preterm birth (PTB) is inconsistent and based on ambient temperature rather than a thermophysiological index. The aim of this study was to use a spatiotemporal thermophysiological index (Universal Thermal Climate Index, UTCI) to investigate prenatal acute heat and cold stress exposures and spontaneous PTB. We conducted a space-time-stratified case-crossover analysis of 15,576 singleton live births with spontaneous PTB between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2015 in Western Australia. The association between UTCI and spontaneous PTB was examined with distributed lag nonlinear models and conditional quasi-Poisson regression. Relative to the median UTCI, there was negligible evidence for associations at the lower range of exposures (1st to 25th percentiles). We found positive associations in the 95th and 99th percentiles, which increased with increasing days of heat stress in the first week of delivery. The relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for the immediate (delivery day) and cumulative short-term (up to six preceding days) exposures to heat stress (99th percentile, 31.2 °C) relative to no thermal stress (median UTCI, 13.8 °C) were 1.01 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.02) and 1.05 (95% CI: 1.04, 1.06), respectively. Elevated effect estimates for heat stress were observed for the transition season, the year 2005–2009, male infants, women who smoked, unmarried, ≤ 19 years old, non-Caucasians, and high socioeconomic status. Effect estimates for cold stress (1st percentile, 0.7 °C) were highest in the transition season, during 2005–2009, and for married, non-Caucasian, and high socioeconomic status women. Acute heat stress was associated with an elevated risk of spontaneous PTB with sociodemographic vulnerability. Cold stress was associated with risk in a few vulnerable subgroups. Awareness and mitigation strategies such as hydration, reducing outdoor activities, affordable heating and cooling systems, and climate change governance may be beneficial. Further studies with the UTCI are required. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:40:52Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-93792 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:40:52Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | ELSEVIER GMBH |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-937922024-01-12T00:29:13Z Prenatal acute thermophysiological stress and spontaneous preterm birth in Western Australia, 2000–2015: A space-time-stratified case-crossover analysis Nyadanu, Sylvester Tessema, Gizachew Mullins, Ben Pereira, Gavin Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Public, Environmental & Occupational Health Infectious Diseases Universal thermal climate index Preterm birth Heat stress Cold stress Thermal stress Temperature HIGH AMBIENT-TEMPERATURE MATERNAL EXPOSURE RISK HEAT STILLBIRTH BRISBANE ASSOCIATION DELIVERY HEALTH Cold stress Heat stress Preterm birth Temperature Thermal stress Universal thermal climate index Adult Female Heat Stress Disorders Humans Infant Infant, Newborn Male Pregnancy Premature Birth Risk Seasons Western Australia Young Adult Humans Premature Birth Heat Stress Disorders Risk Seasons Pregnancy Adult Infant Infant, Newborn Western Australia Female Male Young Adult Epidemiologic evidence on acute heat and cold stress and preterm birth (PTB) is inconsistent and based on ambient temperature rather than a thermophysiological index. The aim of this study was to use a spatiotemporal thermophysiological index (Universal Thermal Climate Index, UTCI) to investigate prenatal acute heat and cold stress exposures and spontaneous PTB. We conducted a space-time-stratified case-crossover analysis of 15,576 singleton live births with spontaneous PTB between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2015 in Western Australia. The association between UTCI and spontaneous PTB was examined with distributed lag nonlinear models and conditional quasi-Poisson regression. Relative to the median UTCI, there was negligible evidence for associations at the lower range of exposures (1st to 25th percentiles). We found positive associations in the 95th and 99th percentiles, which increased with increasing days of heat stress in the first week of delivery. The relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for the immediate (delivery day) and cumulative short-term (up to six preceding days) exposures to heat stress (99th percentile, 31.2 °C) relative to no thermal stress (median UTCI, 13.8 °C) were 1.01 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.02) and 1.05 (95% CI: 1.04, 1.06), respectively. Elevated effect estimates for heat stress were observed for the transition season, the year 2005–2009, male infants, women who smoked, unmarried, ≤ 19 years old, non-Caucasians, and high socioeconomic status. Effect estimates for cold stress (1st percentile, 0.7 °C) were highest in the transition season, during 2005–2009, and for married, non-Caucasian, and high socioeconomic status women. Acute heat stress was associated with an elevated risk of spontaneous PTB with sociodemographic vulnerability. Cold stress was associated with risk in a few vulnerable subgroups. Awareness and mitigation strategies such as hydration, reducing outdoor activities, affordable heating and cooling systems, and climate change governance may be beneficial. Further studies with the UTCI are required. 2022 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/93792 10.1016/j.ijheh.2022.114029 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1195716 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1099655 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1173991 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ELSEVIER GMBH fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Public, Environmental & Occupational Health Infectious Diseases Universal thermal climate index Preterm birth Heat stress Cold stress Thermal stress Temperature HIGH AMBIENT-TEMPERATURE MATERNAL EXPOSURE RISK HEAT STILLBIRTH BRISBANE ASSOCIATION DELIVERY HEALTH Cold stress Heat stress Preterm birth Temperature Thermal stress Universal thermal climate index Adult Female Heat Stress Disorders Humans Infant Infant, Newborn Male Pregnancy Premature Birth Risk Seasons Western Australia Young Adult Humans Premature Birth Heat Stress Disorders Risk Seasons Pregnancy Adult Infant Infant, Newborn Western Australia Female Male Young Adult Nyadanu, Sylvester Tessema, Gizachew Mullins, Ben Pereira, Gavin Prenatal acute thermophysiological stress and spontaneous preterm birth in Western Australia, 2000–2015: A space-time-stratified case-crossover analysis |
| title | Prenatal acute thermophysiological stress and spontaneous preterm birth in Western Australia, 2000–2015: A space-time-stratified case-crossover analysis |
| title_full | Prenatal acute thermophysiological stress and spontaneous preterm birth in Western Australia, 2000–2015: A space-time-stratified case-crossover analysis |
| title_fullStr | Prenatal acute thermophysiological stress and spontaneous preterm birth in Western Australia, 2000–2015: A space-time-stratified case-crossover analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prenatal acute thermophysiological stress and spontaneous preterm birth in Western Australia, 2000–2015: A space-time-stratified case-crossover analysis |
| title_short | Prenatal acute thermophysiological stress and spontaneous preterm birth in Western Australia, 2000–2015: A space-time-stratified case-crossover analysis |
| title_sort | prenatal acute thermophysiological stress and spontaneous preterm birth in western australia, 2000–2015: a space-time-stratified case-crossover analysis |
| topic | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Public, Environmental & Occupational Health Infectious Diseases Universal thermal climate index Preterm birth Heat stress Cold stress Thermal stress Temperature HIGH AMBIENT-TEMPERATURE MATERNAL EXPOSURE RISK HEAT STILLBIRTH BRISBANE ASSOCIATION DELIVERY HEALTH Cold stress Heat stress Preterm birth Temperature Thermal stress Universal thermal climate index Adult Female Heat Stress Disorders Humans Infant Infant, Newborn Male Pregnancy Premature Birth Risk Seasons Western Australia Young Adult Humans Premature Birth Heat Stress Disorders Risk Seasons Pregnancy Adult Infant Infant, Newborn Western Australia Female Male Young Adult |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1195716 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1195716 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1195716 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/93792 |