Health Benefits of Residence at Moderate Altitude Do Not Reduce COVID-19 Mortality.

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Version: author
License: CC BY 4.0
Serval ID
serval:BIB_D6C1E346C095
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Health Benefits of Residence at Moderate Altitude Do Not Reduce COVID-19 Mortality.
Journal
International journal of environmental research and public health
Author(s)
Burtscher J., Millet G.P., Leitner B., Burtscher M.
ISSN
1660-4601 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
1660-4601
Publication state
Published
Issued date
01/12/2022
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
19
Number
23
Pages
16074
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article
Publication Status: epublish
Abstract
Moderate altitude (1000-2000 m above sea level) residence is emerging as a protective factor from the mortality of various causes, including of cardiovascular diseases. Conversely, mortality from certain respiratory diseases is higher at these altitudes than in lowlands. These divergent outcomes could indicate either beneficial or detrimental effects of altitude on the mortality of COVID-19 that primarily infects the respiratory tract but results in multi-organ damage. Previous epidemiological data indeed suggest divergent outcomes of moderate to high altitude residence in various countries. Confounding factors, such as variations in the access to clinical facilities or selection biases of investigated populations, may contribute to the equivocation of these observations. We interrogated a dataset of the complete population of an Alpine country in the center of Europe with relatively similar testing and clinical support conditions across altitude-levels of residence (up to around 2000 m) to assess altitude-dependent mortality from COVID-19 throughout 2020. While a reduced all-cause mortality was confirmed for people living higher than 1000 m, no differences in the mortality from COVID-19 between the lowest and the highest altitude regions were observed for the overall population and the population older than 60 years as well. Conversely, COVID-19 mortality seems to have been reduced in the very old (>85 years) women at moderate altitudes.
Keywords
Female, Humans, COVID-19, Altitude, Cardiovascular Diseases, Europe, COVID, aging, altitude, coronavirus, hypoxia, mortality
Pubmed
Open Access
Yes
Create date
19/12/2022 12:05
Last modification date
24/12/2022 7:45
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