Ali Mansourian
Professor
An ecological study of chronic kidney disease in five Mesoamerican countries : associations with crop and heat
Author
Summary, in English
BACKGROUND: Mesoamerica is severely affected by an epidemic of Chronic Kidney Disease of non-traditional origin (CKDnt), an epidemic with a marked variation within countries. We sought to describe the spatial distribution of CKDnt in Mesoamerica and examine area-level crop and climate risk factors.
METHODS: CKD mortality or hospital admissions data was available for five countries: Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica and linked to demographic, crop and climate data. Maps were developed using Bayesian spatial regression models. Regression models were used to analyze the association between area-level CKD burden and heat and cultivation of four crops: sugarcane, banana, rice and coffee.
RESULTS: There are regions within each of the five countries with elevated CKD burden. Municipalities in hot areas and much sugarcane cultivation had higher CKD burden, both compared to equally hot municipalities with lower intensity of sugarcane cultivation and to less hot areas with equally intense sugarcane cultivation, but associations with other crops at different intensity and heat levels were not consistent across countries.
CONCLUSION: Mapping routinely collected, already available data could be a first step to identify areas with high CKD burden. The finding of higher CKD burden in hot regions with intense sugarcane cultivation which was repeated in all five countries agree with individual-level studies identifying heavy physical labor in heat as a key CKDnt risk factor. In contrast, no associations between CKD burden and other crops were observed.
Department/s
- Centre for Geographical Information Systems (GIS Centre)
- Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
Publishing year
2021-05-01
Language
English
Publication/Series
BMC Public Health
Volume
21
Issue
1
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
Topic
- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences
- Environmental Health and Occupational Health
Keywords
- Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown origin (CKDu)
- Mesoamerican countries
- Associations with crop and heat
- Ecological study
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1471-2458