Publications by authors named "Danny Houthuijs"

Background: The minimum mortality temperature (MMT) or MMT percentile (MMTP) is an indicator of population susceptibility to nonoptimum temperatures. MMT and MMTP change over time; however, the changing directions show region-wide heterogeneity. We examined the heterogeneity of temporal changes in MMT and MMTP across multiple communities and in multiple countries.

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Article Synopsis
  • Temperature variability (TV), both intra-day and inter-day, impacts mortality rates, but this study found intra-day variation poses a higher risk to all-cause, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality.
  • Analyzing data from 758 locations over nearly 50 years, the researchers discovered that each increase in intra-day TV correlates with a greater increase in mortality risk compared to inter-day TV.
  • The study recommends further evaluations of the impacts of temperature variability on health, particularly focusing on intra-day fluctuations, which accounted for more than four times the mortality risk compared to inter-day variability.
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Introduction: Epidemiological cohort studies have consistently found associations between long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution and a range of morbidity and mortality endpoints. Recent evaluations by the World Health Organization and the Global Burden of Disease study have suggested that these associations may be nonlinear and may persist at very low concentrations. Studies conducted in North America in particular have suggested that associations with mortality persisted at concentrations of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.

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Objectives: In the Netherlands, during the first phase of the COVID-19 epidemic, the hotspot of COVID-19 overlapped with the country's main livestock area, while in subsequent phases this distinct spatial pattern disappeared. Previous studies show that living near livestock farms influence human respiratory health and immunological responses. This study aimed to explore whether proximity to livestock was associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

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Background: Although drinking water in the Netherlands is generally accepted as safe, public concern about health risks of long-term intake still exist.

Objective: The aim was to explore associations between drinking water quality for nitrate, water hardness, calcium and magnesium and causes-of-death as related to cardiovascular diseases amongst which coronary heart disease and colorectal cancer.

Methods: We used national administrative databases on cause-specific mortality, personal characteristics, residential history, social economic indicators, air quality and drinking water quality for parameters specified by the EU Drinking Water Directive.

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Background: Increased mortality risk is associated with short-term temperature variability. However, to our knowledge, there has been no comprehensive assessment of the temperature variability-related mortality burden worldwide. In this study, using data from the MCC Collaborative Research Network, we first explored the association between temperature variability and mortality across 43 countries or regions.

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Studies have investigated the effects of heat and temperature variability (TV) on mortality. However, few assessed whether TV modifies the heat-mortality association. Data on daily temperature and mortality in the warm season were collected from 717 locations across 36 countries.

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Background: Minimum mortality temperature (MMT) is an important indicator to assess the temperature-mortality association, indicating long-term adaptation to local climate. Limited evidence about the geographical variability of the MMT is available at a global scale.

Methods: We collected data from 658 communities in 43 countries under different climates.

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Background: Many regions of the world are now facing more frequent and unprecedentedly large wildfires. However, the association between wildfire-related PM and mortality has not been well characterised. We aimed to comprehensively assess the association between short-term exposure to wildfire-related PM and mortality across various regions of the world.

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Background: Exposure to cold or hot temperatures is associated with premature deaths. We aimed to evaluate the global, regional, and national mortality burden associated with non-optimal ambient temperatures.

Methods: In this modelling study, we collected time-series data on mortality and ambient temperatures from 750 locations in 43 countries and five meta-predictors at a grid size of 0·5° × 0·5° across the globe.

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Background: Few studies have considered aircraft noise annoyance and noise sensitivity in analyses of the health effects of aircraft noise, especially in relation to medication use. This study aims to investigate the moderating and mediating role of these two factors in the relationship between aircraft noise levels and medication use among 5860 residents of ten European airports included in the HYENA and DEBATS studies.

Methods: Information on aircraft noise annoyance, noise sensitivity, medication use, and demographic, socio-economic and lifestyle factors was collected during a face-to-face interview at home.

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Introduction: To characterize air pollution exposure at a fine spatial scale, different exposure assessment methods have been applied. Comparison of associations with health from different exposure methods are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate associations of air pollution based on hybrid, land-use regression (LUR) and dispersion models with natural cause and cause-specific mortality.

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Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess whether medication use for obstructive airway diseases is associated with environmental exposure to livestock farms. Previous studies in the Netherlands at a regional level suggested that asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are less prevalent among persons living near livestock farms.

Methods: A nationwide population-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 7,735,491 persons, with data on the dispensing of drugs for obstructive airway diseases in the Netherlands in 2016.

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Introduction: Many studies, including the HYENA and the DEBATS studies, showed a significant association between aircraft noise exposure and the risk of hypertension. Few studies have considered aircraft noise annoyance and noise sensitivity as factors of interest, especially in relation to hypertension risk, or as mediating or modifying factors. The present study aims 1) to investigate the risk of hypertension in relation to aircraft noise annoyance or noise sensitivity; and 2) to examine the role of modifier or mediator of these two factors in the association between aircraft noise levels and the risk of hypertension.

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Global environmental change has degraded ecosystems. Challenges such as climate change, resource depletion (with its huge implications for human health and wellbeing), and persistent social inequalities in health have been identified as global public health issues with implications for both communicable and noncommunicable diseases. This contributes to pressure on healthcare systems, as well as societal systems that affect health.

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Background: Long-term exposure to particulate air pollution has been associated with mortality in urban cohort studies. Few studies have investigated the association between emission contributions from different particle sources and mortality in large-scale population registries, including non-urban populations.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the associations between long-term exposure to particulate air pollution from different source categories and non-accidental mortality in the Netherlands based on existing national databases.

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Background: Road traffic noise has been associated with adverse health effects including sleep disturbances. Use of sleep medication as an indicator of sleeping problems has rarely been explored in studies of the effects of traffic noise. Furthermore, using registry data on sleep medications provides an opportunity to study the effects of noise on sleep where attribution of sleep problems to noise is not possible.

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Background: We followed up, in 2013, the subjects who lived near the Athens International Airport and had participated in the cross-sectional multicountry HYENA study in 2004-2006.

Objective: To evaluate the association of exposure to aircraft and road traffic noise with the incidence of hypertension and other cardiovascular outcomes.

Methods: From the 780 individuals who participated in the cross-sectional study, 537 were still living in the same area and 420 accepted to participate in the follow-up.

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Aims: We investigated whether traffic-related air pollution and noise are associated with incident hypertension in European cohorts.

Methods And Results: We included seven cohorts of the European study of cohorts for air pollution effects (ESCAPE). We modelled concentrations of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.

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Background: Cohorts based on administrative data have size advantages over individual cohorts in investigating air pollution risks, but often lack in-depth information on individual risk factors related to lifestyle. If there is a correlation between lifestyle and air pollution, omitted lifestyle variables may result in biased air pollution risk estimates. Correlations between lifestyle and air pollution can be induced by socio-economic status affecting both lifestyle and air pollution exposure.

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Background: Long-term exposure to air pollution has been associated with mortality in urban cohort studies. Few studies have investigated this association in large-scale population registries, including non-urban populations.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the associations between long-term exposure to air pollution and nonaccidental and cause-specific mortality in the Netherlands based on existing national databases.

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We conducted a multi-country study to estimate the perceived economic values of traffic-related air pollution and noise health risks within the framework of a large European project. We used contingent valuation as a method to assess the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for both types of pollutants simultaneously. We asked respondents how much they would be willing to pay annually to avoid certain health risks from specific pollutants.

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Background: The health impacts from traffic-related pollutants bring costs to society, which are often not reflected in market prices for transportation. We set out to simultaneously assess the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for traffic-related air pollution and noise effect on health, using a single measurement instrument and approach. We investigated the proportion and determinants of "protest vote/PV responses (people who were against valuing their health in terms of money)" and "don't know"/DK answers, and explored the effect of DK on the WTP distributions.

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Background: Long-term exposure to air pollution has been hypothesized to elevate arterial blood pressure (BP). The existing evidence is scarce and country specific.

Objectives: We investigated the cross-sectional association of long-term traffic-related air pollution with BP and prevalent hypertension in European populations.

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