Abstract
Climate change can have serious impacts on human health, resulting in increased healthcare utilization. Many studies on the relationship between mortality and temperature exist, but few studies focus on heat related outbreaks. Our objective was to verify the relationship between ambient temperature and heat related illnesses during the summer months. This study analyzed the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) database. Patients with an ICD-10 code T67 (Effects of Heat and Light) presenting between May and September were included. Generalized additive models (GAM) were used to determine the association between ambient temperature and heat related illnesses including differences by region and patient age. A total of 335,759 patients with heat related illnesses were identified from 2002 to 2013. The number of heat related illnesses increased from 14,994 in 2002 to 29,332 in 2013. For every 1 °C increase in the daily temperature above 29.5 °C, the number of patients with heat related illnesses also increased (RR 1.060; 95% CI, 1.059 to 1.061). In addition, a higher association between temperature and outbreaks of heat related to elderly patients (RR 1.084; 95% CI, 1.081 to 1.086) and rural patients (RR 1.229; 95% CI, 1.208 to 1.251) was identified. The association between the daily maximum temperature and outbreaks of heat related illness is identified. The number of patients with heat related illnesses increased over the years and was especially noted in elderly and rural patients.
Highlights
Climate change is a continuing and rapid phenomenon happening all over the world
From 1971 to 2000, Korea has averaged 8.5 heat wave days per year, but this number is expected to rise to 32.3 days per year in the late 21st century by national mean temperature [5]
Korea is influenced by the East Asian monsoon with precipitation of 388 mm to 1053.6 mm per year and daily mean temperatures during the summer months ranging from 23 to 26 ◦ C [20]
Summary
Climate change is a continuing and rapid phenomenon happening all over the world. Changes are happening in temperature and precipitation, and in the incidence, strength, and location of tornadoes and typhoons [1]. The rate of change is increasing [1]. The average temperature has increased 0.7 degrees from 1906 to 2005 [2]. In addition to increases in average temperature, increases in extreme temperatures, heat waves, are occurring [3,4]. From 1971 to 2000, Korea has averaged 8.5 heat wave days per year, but this number is expected to rise to 32.3 days per year in the late 21st century by national mean temperature [5]
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