Ali Mansourian
Professor
An ecological study of chronic kidney disease in five Mesoamerican countries : associations with crop and heat
Författare
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.
Avdelning/ar
- Centrum för geografiska informationssystem (GIS-centrum)
- Institutionen för naturgeografi och ekosystemvetenskap
Publiceringsår
2021-05-01
Språk
Engelska
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
BMC Public Health
Volym
21
Issue
1
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
BioMed Central (BMC)
Ämne
- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences
- Environmental Health and Occupational Health
Nyckelord
- Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown origin (CKDu)
- Mesoamerican countries
- Associations with crop and heat
- Ecological study
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1471-2458