Association of neighborhood greenness with severity of hand, foot, and mouth disease

BMC Public Health

Shicheng Yu¹  Zhicheng Du²  Yuantao Hao²  Boyi Yang³  Guanghui Dong³  Bin Jalaludin⁴  Luke Knibbs⁵ 

[1] Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 102206, Beijing, China;Department of Medical Statistics, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, 510080, Guangzhou, China;Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, 510080, Guangzhou, China;School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, 1871, Kensington, NSW, Australia;School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, 2006, Camperdown, NSW, Australia;

关键词: Hand, foot, and mouth disease;    Neighborhood greenness;    Effect modification;    Population density;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-021-12444-7

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundHand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is an epidemic infectious disease in China. Relationship of neighborhood greenness with human health has been widely studied, yet its association with severe HFMD has not yet been established.MethodsIndividual HFMD cases that occurred in Guangdong province in 2010 were recruited and were categorised into mild and severe cases. Residential greenness was assessed using global land cover data. We used a case-control design (i.e., severe versus mild cases) with logistic regression models to assess the association between neighborhood greenness and HFMD severity. Effect modification was also examined.ResultsA total of 131,606 cases were included, of whom 130,840 were mild cases and 766 were severe cases. In an unadjusted model, HFMD severity increased with higher proportion of neighborhood greenness (odds ratio, OR = 1.029, 95%CI: 1.009–1.050). The greenness-HFMD severity association remained (OR = 1.031, 95%CI: 1.006–1.057) after adjusting for population density, demographic variables and climate variables. Both population density (Z = 4.148, P < 0.001) and relative humidity (Z = -4.297, P < 0.001) modified the association between neighborhood greenness and HFMD severity. In the stratified analyses, a protective effect (OR = 0.769, 95%CI: 0.687–0.860) of greenness on HFMD severity were found in the subgroup of population density being lower than and equal to 5 ln(no.)/km2. While in both the subgroups of population density being higher than 5, the greenness had hazard effects (subgroup of > 5 & ≤7: OR = 1.071, 95%CI: 1.024–1.120; subgroup of > 7: OR = 1.065, 95%CI: 1.034–1.097) on HFMD severity. As to relative humidity, statistically significant association between greenness and HFMD severity was only observed in the subgroup of being lower than and equal to 76% (OR = 1.059, 95%CI: 1.023–1.096).ConclusionsOur study found that HFMD severity is associated with the neighborhood greenness in Guangdong, China. This study provides evidence on developing a prevention strategy of discouraging the high-risk groups from going to the crowded green spaces during the epidemic period.

【 授权许可】

CC BY