Sudden temperature change can increase risk for allergic conjunctivitis
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A retrospective study showed a statistically significant relationship between allergic conjunctivitis risk and sudden change in temperature, which can be compounded with a decline in humidity.
“Our findings have implications with regards to predisposition when considering a diagnosis of allergic conjunctivitis or when creating a therapeutic plan for recurrent or severe cases,” Sneh Patel, a medical student at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said at the virtual Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting.
Patel and researchers evaluated the effect of temperature change on allergic conjunctivitis for patient visits at all U.S. Veterans Affairs clinic from January 2010 to December 2013. A case-crossover design was used, and all cases served as their own controls on a randomly selected day 90 to 250 days before their allergic conjunctivitis diagnosis. The researchers evaluated the daily risk for a hospital visit due to allergic conjunctivitis with exposure to temperature change for every day up to 30 days before their diagnosis, Patel said.
Three models were created. Model one evaluated adjusted temperature and standard deviation of temperature on risk for allergic conjunctivitis visits. Model two evaluated the effect of adjusted ambient temperature, adjusted standard deviation of temperature, relative humidity and ambient temperature-relative humidity interaction on risk for a visit. Model three evaluated the climate region-specific outcomes, determined by zip codes, and their risks for an allergic conjunctivitis visit.
Researchers evaluated 74,951 patients who made 116,162 visits for allergic conjunctivitis. They found the adjusted standard deviation of temperature, the hourly temperature change, increased the risk for allergic conjunctivitis for all 30 days before diagnosis. The highest odds were 1 day before diagnosis (P .001).
“Our results suggest a positive relationship between exposure to temperature change and risk for allergic conjunctivitis. As high as 2.7% increased odds for allergic conjunctivitis hospital visit was observed in our study,” Patel said.
Additionally, a decline in relative humidity and the absolute temperature-humidity interaction increased risk for all 30 days. Temperature alone increased risk between 30 days and 4 days before diagnosis, he said.
Finally, researchers stratified findings geographically and found the Lower Midwest and Northeast demonstrated the strongest relationship between temperature change and allergic conjunctivitis risk. The Pacific Northwest demonstrated a weak association, he said.
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Patel S, et al. The effects of temperature change on allergic conjunctivitis. Presented at: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology annual meeting; June 12, 2020 (virtual meeting).
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