Cause-specific risk of hospital admission related to extreme heat in older adults.
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ABSTRACT: IMPORTANCE:Heat exposure is known to have a complex set of physiological effects on multiple organ systems, but current understanding of the health effects is mostly based on studies investigating a small number of prespecified health outcomes such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. OBJECTIVES:To identify possible causes of hospital admissions during extreme heat events and to estimate their risks using historical data. DESIGN, SETTING, AND POPULATION:Matched analysis of time series data describing daily hospital admissions of Medicare enrollees (23.7 million fee-for-service beneficiaries [aged ?65 years] per year; 85% of all Medicare enrollees) for the period 1999 to 2010 in 1943 counties in the United States with at least 5 summers of near-complete (>95%) daily temperature data. EXPOSURES:Heat wave periods, defined as 2 or more consecutive days with temperatures exceeding the 99th percentile of county-specific daily temperatures, matched to non-heat wave periods by county and week. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES:Daily cause-specific hospitalization rates by principal discharge diagnosis codes, grouped into 283 disease categories using a validated approach. RESULTS:Risks of hospitalization for fluid and electrolyte disorders, renal failure, urinary tract infection, septicemia, and heat stroke were statistically significantly higher on heat wave days relative to matched non-heat wave days, but risk of hospitalization for congestive heart failure was lower (P?
SUBMITTER: Bobb JF
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4319792 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec 24-31
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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