Approximately 52,000 additional emergency department visits for asthma, COPD, or asthma-COPD overlap occurred as the result of thunderstorms in a 14-year study period, according to data published in JAMA Internal Medicine. The increase in ED visits were driven by increases in temperature and particulate matter in the three or more days surrounding major storms from 1999 to 2012.

Researchers found ED visits peaked the day before major storms, with an average increase of:

  • 1.8 additional visits per million beneficiaries overall;
  • 6.3 additional visits per million for asthma;
  • 6.4 additional visits per million for COPD; and
  • 9.4 additional visits per million for asthma-COPD.

In addition, the increase in ED visits during the three or more days surrounding these storms was an average of:

  • 5.3 additional visits per million beneficiaries overall;
  • 22.6 additional visits per million for asthma;
  • 22.4 additional visits per million for COPD; and
  • 33.8 additional visits per million for asthma-COPD. 

Read the study at www.jamanetwork.com