Abstract
Older people had a high incidence of hospitalisation during the 2009 heat wave in South Australia. We sought to explore resilience, behaviours, health risk factors and health outcomes during recent heat waves for a representative sample of independently living residents. A telephone survey of 499 people aged 65 years and over was conducted, and included both metropolitan and rural residences. A variety of adaptive strategies were reported, with 75% maintaining regular appointments and activities during the heat. However, 74% took medication for chronic disease and 25% assessed their health status to be fair to poor. In a multivariate model, factors associated with heat health outcomes included medication for mental health, heart failure, diabetes or respiratory health, reporting a reduced health status, use of mobility aids and being female. Compared with younger participants, those over 75 had more check-up calls and visits by family, friends and neighbours. However, confidence to call on support was associated with indicators of social isolation. The study indicates that older people are generally resilient, but interventions addressing multi-morbidity and medication interactions and social isolation should be developed.
Highlights
South Australia (SA, population: 1,662,200) has a Mediterranean climate with an average maximum temperature during January and February of 29 oC and a minimum of 17 oC
The results indicate that relevant pre-existing illnesses requiring prescribed medications were associated with health outcomes reportedly experienced by the survey participants in recent heat waves
People with reduced social contact and reduced income were less confident to contact family members. This is the first study to focus on heat-related risk factors for an older, but independently living population in South Australia. This subpopulation was chosen because older people had a high incidence of hospitalisation during the 2009 heat wave in South Australia and are known to be more at risk when exposed to extreme heat [1]
Summary
South Australia (SA, population: 1,662,200) has a Mediterranean climate with an average maximum temperature during January and February of 29 oC and a minimum of 17 oC. In summer 2009, SA experienced a prolonged heat wave of 13 days (26 January to 7 February 2009), reaching a record maximum temperature of 45.7 oC, and six successive days over 40 oC in the metropolitan area. The health impacts recorded for ambulance, hospital, emergency departments and death records for Adelaide, the capital city of SA, where 73% of the population reside, were considerable and by far exceeded the risks experienced during previous heat waves [1]. Mental and renal health-related admissions were predominantly increased in the older population. This disease pattern is in agreement with worldwide evidence from heat wave impacts and can be explained by physiological and cognitive contributing factors associated with ageing [2]
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