International Journal of Biometeorology

, Volume 57, Issue 4, pp 597–603 | Cite as

Effect of diurnal temperature range on cardiovascular markers in the elderly in Seoul, Korea

  • Youn-Hee Lim
  • Ho Kim
  • Jin Hee Kim
  • Sanghyuk Bae
  • Yun-Chul Hong
Original Paper
First Online:
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:

Abstract

While diurnal temperature range (DTR) has been found to be a risk factor for mortality, evaluation of the underlying mechanisms involved in this association are lacking. To explain the association between DTR and health effects, we investigated how cardiovascular markers responded to DTR. Data was obtained from 560 participants who regularly attended a community elderly welfare center located in Seoul, Korea. Data collection was conducted a total of five times over a 3-year period beginning in August, 2008. We examined systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and heart rate variability (HRV). Mixed-effects models and generalized additive mixed models were used to assess the relationship of DTR with BP, HR, and HRV. BP was not associated significantly with rapid temperature changes during the day. While HR was associated linearly with increments of DTR, the relationship between DTR and HRV showed nonlinear associations, or the presence of a cutoff around median DTR. At the cutoff level of DTR determined by an inflection point in the graph, standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals (SDNN) and root mean square successive difference (RMSSD) were peaked, whereas the low frequency:high frequency (LF:HF) ratio was elevated with decreasing DTR below the cutoff level. The study demonstrated that HR increases with increasing temperature range during the day, and that HRV is reduced at small or large DTR, which suggests minimal cardiovascular stress around the median level of temperature range during the day.

Keywords

Diurnal temperature range Cardiovascular marker Blood pressure Heart rate variability 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

H. K. and Y.-H. L. were partially supported by Basic Science Research Program (#2010-0009581) and Global Research Lab (#K21004000001-10A0500-00710) through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology.

Supplementary material

484_2012_587_MOESM1_ESM.doc (148 kb)
ESM 1 (DOC 147 kb)

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Copyright information

© ISB 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  • Youn-Hee Lim
    • 1
    • 2
  • Ho Kim
    • 1
  • Jin Hee Kim
    • 3
  • Sanghyuk Bae
    • 4
  • Yun-Chul Hong
    • 3
    • 5
  1. 1.Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Graduate School of Public HealthSeoul National UniversitySeoulRepublic of Korea
  2. 2.Institute of Health and Environment, Graduate School of Public HealthSeoul National UniversitySeoulRepublic of Korea
  3. 3.Institute of Environmental MedicineSeoul National University Medical Research CenterSeoulRepublic of Korea
  4. 4.Environmental Health CenterSeoul National University College of MedicineSeoulRepublic of Korea
  5. 5.Department of Preventive MedicineSeoul National University College of MedicineSeoulRepublic of Korea

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