Climate Variability and Asthma Attacks in Two Climatic Zones in Togo: The Case of the Savanes Region in a Unimodal Sahelian Area and the Case of the Grand-Lome Region in a Bimodal Coastal Area
摘要
Climate change and climate variability trigger certain respiratory conditions, but the extent of its effect is still poorly understood, especially from one geographical area to another. The present study was conducted on Asthma using five (05) years of data from 2018 to 2022 in two climatic areas in Togo, namely the Savanes region in a unimodal Sahelian zone in the north and the Grand-Lome region in a bimodal coastal zone in the south. The methodology employed consisted of an analysis of the correlation coefficient and the significance at 5% of the p-values; identifying environmental parameters, in particular the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and climatological parameters, namely rainfall (RR), maximum (TMAX) and minimum (TMIN) temperatures, maximum (HMAX) and minimum (HMIN) relative humidity, wind speed (Windspeed) and insolation (Inso), which are strongly correlated with asthma in each region of the study area. The results indicated that NDVI, TMIN and Windspeed are strongly correlated with Asthma in the Savanes region with correlation coefficients and p-values of 0.063 at 2.6%, − 0.53 at 4.2% and − 0.60 at 3.5% respectively. In contrast to the Grand-Lome region, the correlation between UMAX and Inso for Asthma was established, with (r) and p-values of 0.75–0.5% and 0.66 to 1.7% respectively. Asthma prevalence was very high in the highly industrialized coastal region of Grand-Lome (274.8 per 100,000) in the south of the country, in contrast to the Savanes region (64.88 per 100,000) in the north. Finally, October to December seems to be the month’s most prone to asthma attacks in both regions, with January and February being particularly prone. This situation might probably be explained by the fact that during these months, the weather is cold, the air is dry and his quality is not proper for breath because of dust and mold. Therefore, actions such as establishing early warning systems for climate-sensitive respiratory diseases, implement multisectoral approach, conduct training and awareness campaigns for both communities and healthcare professionals on the health impacts of climate change, appear necessary to reduce the prevalence of asthma However, this study has been constrained by the limited availability of long-term data, necessitating a study period restricted to five years, potentially limiting the ability to observe longer-term trends in the effects of climate on asthma prevalence.