Meteorological parameters and hospitalizations of patients with sickle cell anemia: a 20-year retrospective study in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

To investigate the influence of climate on hospitalizations of sickle cell anemia (SCA) adults and children, we analyzed the health and meteorological parameters from a metropolis (1999-2018). 1462 hospitalizations were coded for SCA patients in crisis (M:F = 715:747) and 1354 hospitalizations for SCA patients without crisis (M:F = 698:656) [age = 22.9 vs 15.2 years and duration of hospitalization (DoH) = 5.7 vs 4.4 days, respectively,]. More hospitalizations were for adults than children in crisis, and for children than adults without crisis. More children and adults were hospitalized in winter andspring than in summer and autumn Hospitalizations correlated positively with humidity (lag −5), maximum pressure (lag −2), mean pressure (lag −2), and thermal amplitude (lag −2), and negatively with maximum temperature (lag −3). DoH positively correlated with minimum temperature (lag −4). Understanding these complex associations would induce attitudinal/behavioral modifications among patients and their caregivers.