Friday, March 9, 2012

Heat Waves and Mortality in Korean Cities

The Impact of Heat Waves on Mortality in 7 Major Cities in Korea (34 page pdf, Ji-Young Son, Jong-Tae Lee, G. Brooke Anderson, Michelle L. Bell, Environ Health Perspect, Jan. 20, 2012)

Today we review an analysis of the health impact of heat waves in Korea, the characteristics of these events and the most vulnerable people within the population. Results indicate a greater mortality during the first heat waves in the season and the greatest impact on the elderly.



Key Quotes:

“we estimated the effects of heat waves on mortality in 7 major cities in Korea during 2000-2007 and evaluated effect modification by heat wave characteristics (intensity, duration, and timing in season)”

“we defined a heat wave as ≥2 consecutive days with daily mean temperature at or above the 98th percentile warm season daily mean temperature (for 2000-2007) for each city”

“the average number of heat waves in the study period was generally similar among cities, ranging from 0.6 to 1.1 per year. Average heat wave intensity (i.e., the average daily mean temperature during heat waves) ranged from 29.0°C in Incheon to 30.7°C in Daegu. Most heat waves lasted 2 or 3 days in all cities, and no heat wave lasted more than 5 days”

“heat waves earlier in the summer were associated with higher mortality than later heat waves"

“the elderly were more susceptible to heat waves. This may reflect factors such as impaired physiological responses to heat stress (e.g., elevated sweating thresholds, decreased skin blood flow, reduced cardiac output) and pre-existing chronic diseases for the elderly”

“Overall, total mortality increased 4.1% ..during heat waves compared to non-heat wave days, with an 8.4% increase ..estimated for Seoul
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