The state of the thermal environment can affect human health and
well-being. Heat stress is associated with a wide range of health
outcomes increasing morbidity and mortality and is recognized as an
important health risk posed by climate change. This study aims at
examining the effect of thermal conditions on the daily number of
hospital admissions in Cyprus. Data from eight public hospitals located
in five districts of Cyprus were analyzed from 2009 to 2018.
Meteorological hourly gridded data were extracted by the ERA-5 Land
reanalysis database with a spatial horizontal resolution of 0.1 degrees
x 0.1 degrees. The Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET) and the
Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) were calculated as measures of
the integrated effect of meteorological variables. Negative binomial
regression was fitted to examine associations between the daily number
of hospital admissions and meteorological variables, PET, and UTCI. The
results showed that the mean daily temperature (Tair) was positively
associated with hospital admissions from any cause. Hospital admissions
increased by 0.6% (p < 0.001) for each 1 degrees C increase of Tair and
by 0.4% (p < 0.001) for each 1 degrees C increase of PET and UTCI.
Ozone and nitrogen oxides act as confounding factors. An effect of
particulate matter (less than 10 mu m in diameter) was observed when the
analysis focused on April to August. Thresholds above which hospital
admissions are likely to increase include daily mean Tair = 26.1 degrees
C, PET = 29 degrees C, and UTCI = 26 degrees C. Studies on heat-related
health effects are necessary to monitor health patterns, raise
awareness, and design adaptation and mitigation measures
