Impact of ambient temperature on clinical visits for cardio-respiratory diseases in rural villages in northwest China

Highlights: • Temperature and cardio-respiratory clinical visits was studied in rural China. • An U-/reverse J-shaped association was found for the two illness, respectively. • Extreme cold was stronger and immediate on respiratory disease. • Moderate cold resulted in most of the temperature-related clinical visits. The association between temperature and cardio-respiratory disease in urban areas has been widely reported but there is limited information from populations living in rural areas that may be disproportionately affected by climate change.