Risk assessment and disease burden of extreme precipitation on hospitalizations for acute aortic dissection in a subtropical coastal Chinese city

BACKGROUND: Extreme precipitation events are becoming more frequent due to climate change. The present study aimed to explore the impacts of extreme precipitation on hospitalizations for acute aortic dissection (AAD) and to identify susceptible populations and quantify the corresponding disease burden. METHODS: The present study used a distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) with a quasi-Poisson function to investigate the association between extreme precipitation (≥95th percentile) and the risk of hospitalizations for AAD from 2015 to 2020 in Shantou, Guangdong Province, China. RESULTS: The significant adverse effects of extreme precipitation (relative to no precipitation) on daily AAD hospitalizations lasted from lag 5 [relative risk (RR): 1.0318, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.0067–1.0575] to lag 9 (RR: 1.0297, 95% CI: 1.0045–1.0555) and reached its maximum at lag 7 (RR: 1.0382, 95% CI: 1.0105–1.0665). Males and older adult individuals (≥60 years) were more susceptible to extreme precipitation. A total of 3.68% (118 cases) of AAD hospitalizations were due to extreme precipitation. CONCLUSION: Extreme precipitation was significantly correlated with AAD hospitalizations. Government departments should actively implement extreme precipitation intervention measures to strengthen the protection of males and the older adult (≥60 years) and effectively reduce AAD hospitalizations.