Exploring possible seasonal trends in mortality rate in relation to age, gender and environmental conditions in Kuwait : a preliminary analysis

Abstract EN

Inherently, Kuwait a high frequency of dusty events throughout the year due to its arid climate. Particulate air pollution has been linked to increased mortality due to various illnesses.

For the purpose of improving health services, it is important to develop/establish an empirical basis for the possible link between mortality and air quality.

In this paper, we examined mortality rates in Kuwait in relation to age, sex and dust episodes during a five-year period.

Each year was divided into four seasons to detect any potential episodes in the death rate for a particular season.

The results showed that the mortality rates did not correlate significantly (p = 0.67) with the occurrence of total dust events.

Contrary to the popular perception in Kuwait that illnesses and, consequently, deaths increased in recent years as a result of deteriorating air quality due to particulate matter, the collected data did not show a consistent temporal trend.

While this work represents an initial effort on an important issue upon which further investigations can be elaborated upon, a more detailed data have to be collected and analyzed.