Seasonal patterns in asthma hospitalization rates in Saskatchewan
Date
1995-06
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
Type
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
Objectives Monthly hospitalization rates in Saskatchewan from
January 1979 to December 1989 were examined in order to see if
they exhibited a seasonal pattern. The agegroups studied were
0-4, 5-14, 15-34, 35-49 and 50-64. Male and females rates, as
well as native and non-native patterns were compared to see if
the patterns differed by sex or race.
Methods The method used was that of decomposing the time
series into its trend, seasonal and error component, using an
additive model. The significance of the components was tested
using a two-way ANOVA.
Results The monthly asthma hospitalization rates for non-natives
in Sakatchewan did exhibit seasonal variation. The
pattern seen was that of a spring and fall peak in the
children, a fall peak in young adults and a winter-spring peak
in the older groups. There was a difference between the sexes
among the adults. Women seem to be more affected by the
aeroallergens in spring than men. The 35-49 year old men did
not have a statistically significant seasonal pattern, whereas
the women did.
The native and non-native patterns compared for the first time
in this study, do show different patterns for the different
populations. Only the oldest group had the same seasonal pattern as seen in the non-natives.
Conclusions: Asthma hospitalization rates for non-natives in
Saskatchewan do exhibit seasonal patterns. The results are
similar to those seen in other parts of the world. The sex
specific patterns for the age groups studied do not seem to
have been examined before. The adult sex specific patterns did
indicate some differences between the sexes. The native and
non-native patterns were also quite different. More studies
need to be done in order to find reasons for the differences
seen in this study.
Description
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Citation
Degree
Master of Science (M.Sc.)
Department
Community Health and Epidemiology
Program
Community Health and Epidemiology