Association metrological factors with Covid-19 mortality in Tehran, Iran (2020-2021)

ABSTRACT

The outbreak of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has raised questions about the potential role of climate and environmental factors in disease transmission. This study examined meteorological and demographic factors to determine their impact on mortality and hospitalization rates in Tehran, Iran from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2022. Notably, hospitalization cases were positively associated with temperature (P-value: 0.001 in spring, P-value: 0.045 in winter) and pressure (P-value: 0.004 in spring), while being negatively associated with wind speed (P-value: 0.03 in spring, P-value: 0.01 in autumn) and humidity (P-value: 0.001 in autumn) during the spring and autumn seasons. Conversely, mortality was associated with wind speed (P-value: 0.01) and pressure (P-value: 0.02) during winter and spring, respectively. Moreover, temperature was associated with mortality in both spring (P-value: 0.00) and winter (P-value: 0.04). The findings suggest that identifying the environmental factors that contribute to the spread of COVID-19 can help prevent future waves of the pandemic in Tehran.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• epidemic
• environmental health
• metrological indicator
• mortality

Acknowledgements

This project was funded by the social determinant and health research center (SDH) Gonabad University of Medical Science and Workplace Health Promotion Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran under grant no. (IR.SBMU.PHNS.REC.1401.039).

Disclosure statement

This project was funded by the social determinant and health research center (SDH) Gonabad University of Medical Science and Workplace Health Promotion Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Data availability statement

The data used to support the finding of this study are included within the article.

Suggestion

Authors would like to suggest directions for future research that could address limitations and enhance the understanding of the relationship between meteorological variables and COVID-19 outcomes.

Ethics approval

Ethics approval is not needed as the study uses publicly available country-level (aggregated) morbidity, mortality, and weather data.

Additional information

Funding

This project was funded by the social determinant and health research center (SDH) Gonabad University of Medical Science and Workplace Health Promotion Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran under grant no. (IR.SBMU.PHNS.REC.1401.039).