Increased Hospital Admissions Associated with Extreme-Heat Exposure in King County, Washington, 1990–2010

Details

• Personal Author:
  Fenske RA ; Hom EK ; Isaksen TB ; Lyons H ; Ren Y ; Yost MG
• Description:
  Increased morbidity and mortality have been associated with extreme heat events, particularly in temperate climates. Few epidemiologic studies have considered the impact of extreme heat events on hospitalization rates in the Pacific Northwest region. This study quantifies the historic (May to September 1990-2010) heat-morbidity relationship in the most populous Pacific Northwest County, King County, Washington. A relative risk (RR) analysis was used to explore the association between heat and all non-traumatic hospitalizations on 99th percentile heat days, whereas a time series analysis using a piecewise linear model approximation was used to estimate the effect of heat intensity on hospitalizations, adjusted for temporal trends and day of the week. A non-statistically significant 2% [95% CI: 1.02 (0.98, 1.05)] increase in hospitalization risk, on a heat day vs. a non-heat day, was noted for all-ages and all non-traumatic causes. When considering the effect of heat intensity on admissions, we found a statistically significant 1.59% (95% CI: 0.9%, 2.29%) increase in admissions per degree increase in humidex above 37.4 degrees C. Admissions stratified by cause and age produced statistically significant results with both relative risk and time series analyses for nephritis and nephrotic syndromes, acute renal failure, and natural heat exposure hospitalizations. This study demonstrates that heat, expressed as humidex, is associated with increased hospital admissions. When stratified by age and cause of admission, the non-elderly age groups (<85 years) experience significant risk for nephritis and nephrotic syndromes, acute renal failure, natural heat exposure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and asthma hospitalizations. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Age Factors Delivery Of Health Care Epidemiology Hot Temperature Morbidity Mortality Occupational Health Safety Temperature
• Keywords:
  Age Factors Author Keywords: Climate Change Climatic Effects Extreme Heat Heat Exposure Humidex Medical Care Morbidity Morbidity Rates Mortality Rates Pacific Northwest Temperature Effects

  More +
• ISSN:
  0048-7554
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  51-64
• Volume:
  60
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20054689
• Citation:
  Rev Environ Health 2015 Mar; 60(1):51-64
• Contact Point Address:
  Tania Busch Isaksen, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Box 357234, Seattle, WA 98195
• Email:
  tania@u.washington.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Reviews on Environmental Health
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0fefd3f0b36be87ae99572fca03c8871c595d62bf2cf4329c27efa001c0ec17083b6252ff4e93c7fbc7d3e1563175b8add34d270b075ce5e657f6b24697275fa
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/217145/cdc_217145_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 840.12 KB ]