Table 2 –
Associations of unconventional natural gas development measures and hospitalization rates, per 10,000, Pennsylvania, all counties, 2003–2014.
| Well count, coeff. (P value) [95% CI] |
Well density, coeff. (P value) [95% CI] |
Contemporaneous wells, coeff. (P value) [95% CI] |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall hospitalizations | 0.05 (0.32) [−0.05, 0.16] |
64.3 (0.60) [−178.9, 307.4] |
0.002 (0.99) [−0.28, 0.28] |
| Infectious diseases | −0.01 (0.07) [−0.02, 0.001] |
−27.7* (0.03) [−52.0, −3.5] |
−0.037 (0.07) [−0.08, 0.003] |
| Neoplasms | 0.00002 (0.99) [−0.004, 0.004] |
1.1 (0.81) [−7.9, 10.1] |
0.002 (0.79) [−0.02, 0.02] |
| Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases, and immunity disorders | 0.008 (0.09) [−0.001, 0.02] |
13.3 (0.26) [−10.00, 36.6] |
0.006 (0.59) [−0.02, 0.03] |
| Diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs | −0.001 (0.17) [−0.003, 0.001] |
−2.75 (0.14) [−6.4, 0.9] |
−0.003 (0.32) [−0.01, 0.003] |
| Mental disorders | 0.0003 (0.95) [−0.009, 0.01] |
7.8 (0.62) [−23.3, 38.8] |
0.015 (0.46) [−0.03, 0.05] |
| Diseases of the nervous system and sense organs | 0.006 (0.07) [−0.0004, 0.01] |
10.3 (0.18) [−4.7, 25.4] |
0.007 (0.42) [−0.01, 0.03] |
| Diseases of the circulatory system | 0.023 (0.19) [−0.011, 0.06] |
26.6 (0.51) [−54.4, 107.7] |
0.024 (0.59) [−0.06, 0.11] |
| Diseases of the respiratory system | 0.006 (0.54) [−0.014, 0.03] |
8.6 (0.73) [−41.4, 58.6] |
0.001 (0.98) [−0.06, 0.06] |
| Diseases of the digestive system | 0.006 (0.34) [−0.006, 0.02] |
4.8 (0.74) [−23.3, 32.9] |
−0.001 (0.97) [−0.04, 0.04] |
| Diseases of the genitourinary system | 0.008** (0.007) [0.002, 0.01] |
20.00** (0.001) [8.2, 31.8] |
0.011 (0.36) [−0.01, 0.03] |
| Complications of pregnancy, childbirth, and the puerperium | 0.001 (0.63) [−0.003, 0.005] |
−0.4 (0.94) [−10.7, 10.0] |
−0.009 (0.14) [−0.02, 0.003] |
| Diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissues | 0.003 (0.06) [−0.0001, 0.006] |
7.9 (0.10) [−1.4, 17.3] |
0.003 (0.60) [−0.007, 0.01] |
| Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue | −0.005 (0.11) [−0.011, 0.001] |
−13.7* (0.04) [−27.1, −0.4] |
−0.025* (0.01) [−0.05, −0.005] |
| Congenital anomalies | 0.0002 (0.53) [−0.0004, 0.001] |
0.5 (0.55) [−1.2, 2.2] |
0.001 (0.37) [−0.001, 0.004] |
| Conditions originating in the perinatal period | 0.0006 (0.39) [−0.001, 0.002] |
0.6 (0.74) [−2.7, 3.8] |
−0.0002 (0.92) [−0.004, 0.003] |
| Injury and poisoning | 0.008 (0.21) [−0.005, 0.02] |
7.4 (0.62) [−22.4, 37.2] |
0.008 (0.66) [−0.03, 0.05] |
| N | 804 | 804 | 804 |
Notes: We calculated hospitalization rates by dividing the number of hospitalizations in a county year by the estimate of the population count in the county year. We obtained hospitalization data from Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) and population count estimates from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. The well data are from Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
P values from 2-tailed tests are reported in parentheses, 95% confidence intervals (CI) are reported in square brackets.
***
Statistically significant at <0.001 level,
**
at <0.01 level,
*
at <0.05 level