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. 2016 May 12;11(5):e0155166.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0155166. eCollection 2016.

Risk of Flood-Related Diseases of Eyes, Skin and Gastrointestinal Tract in Taiwan: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Ling-Ya Huang  1 , Yu-Chun Wang  2 , Chin-Ching Wu  3 , Yi-Chun Chen  4   5 , Yu-Li Huang  6
Affiliations

Risk of Flood-Related Diseases of Eyes, Skin and Gastrointestinal Tract in Taiwan: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Ling-Ya Huang et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Floods are known to cause serious environmental damage and health impacts. Studies on flood-related diseases have been primarily on individual events, and limited evidence could be drawn on potential health impacts from floods using large population data. This study used reimbursement records of one million people of the Taiwan National Health Insurance program to compare incident diseases of the eyes, skin and gastrointestinal (GI) tract associated with floods. Incidence rates for the selected diseases were calculated according to outpatient/emergency visit data. The incidence rates were evaluated by flood status: in 10 days before floods, during floods and within 10 days after the floods receded. Outpatient/emergency visit rates for the eye, skin and GI tract diseases were highest after floods and lowest during floods. Results from multivariate Poisson regression analyses showed that, when compared with the incidence in 10 days before floods, the incidence rate ratios (IRR) of diseases within 10 days after floods were 1.15 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.10-1.20) for eyes, 1.08 (95% C.I. = 1.05-1.10) for skin, and 1.11 (95% CI = 1.08-1.14) for GI tract, after controlling for covariates. All risks increased with ambient temperature. V-shaped trends were found between age and eye diseases, and between age and GI tract diseases. In contrast, the risk of skin diseases increased with age. In conclusion, more diseases of eyes, skin and GI tract could be diagnosed after the flood.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. The frequencies of flood by county and city in Taiwan Island during 1998 to 2008.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Monthly average incidence rates of eye, skin and GI diseases associated with monthly weather status from 1998 to 2008 in Taiwan.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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