Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) and adverse pregnancy outcomes in Ahvaz, Iran
Narges Khodadadi, Maryam Dastoorpoor, Narges Khanjani, Afsaneh Ghasemi
Abstract
Abstract Background Climate change may jeopardize the health of mothers and their offspring. There are few studies on the association between increasing temperature and pregnancy outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) and adverse pregnancy outcomes including stillbirth, low birth weight (LBW), preterm labor (PTL), spontaneous abortion (SA), preeclampsia and hypertension in Ahvaz, Iran. Methods Distributed Lag Non-linear Models (DLNM) combined with quasi-Poisson regression were used to research the effect of UTCI on adverse pregnancy outcomes. The effect of time trend, air pollutants (NO 2 , SO 2 and PM 10 ), and weekdays were adjusted. Results The results showed that the low values of UTCI index (11.6 °C, in lags 0–6, 0–13) caused significant increase in the risk of preterm labor. However, hot thermal stress (high UTCI) significantly increased the risk of stillbirth in lag 0–13. We did not observe any significant relation between UTCI and other pregnancy outcomes in this study. Conclusions It seems like both hot and cold weathers can be associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes.