Effect of Average Heat Index on the Diagnosis of Amoebic Diarrhea in Emergency Departments: A Climate Change Perspective Study.

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study is to examine the effect of the heat index over a 1-week period in the region where patients reside on those presenting to the emergency department (ED) with complaints of acute diarrhea and diagnosed with amoebic diarrhea based on their test results.

Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed patients who presented with acute diarrhea to a tertiary health care center over the course of 1 year, focusing on the association between symptomatic amoebic diarrhea cases and the 7-day average heat index prior to admission.

Results: A total of 1406 patients were included in the analysis, of whom 251 (17.9%) were diagnosed with amebiasis, while 1155 (82.1%) were classified as non-amebiasis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified an increased 7-day heat index average (OR: 1.12, 95% CI: 1.099-1.141, P < 0.001) as independent predictors of amebiasis. The proportion of amebiasis cases demonstrated a moderate positive correlation with the heat index at lag 0 (r = 0.55, P < 0.001), peaking at lag 4 (r = 0.57, P < 0.001). This correlation remained statistically significant up to lag 14 (r = 0.46, P = 0.013) but weakened substantially at longer lags.

Conclusions: This study determined that in diarrhea patients presenting to the ED, the average increase in the heat index during the week prior to admission influenced the detection rate of amoebic infections.