TORNA ALL’ELENCO

Climate change and health effects in Epidemiology

2012
ARPA Piemonte

Tipo pubblicazione

Conference Abstract

Autori/Collaboratori (6)Vedi tutti...

Cadum E

Pelosini R

Poncino S


et alii...

Abstract

Introduction: Climate changes, in particular heat waves, cause great impact on health. These anomalous climatic conditions mainly concern the population defined “fragile”, because of age, gender, health conditions and social deprivation. Following the increase of mortality recorded in summer 2003, in Piedmont since 2004 a project with the aim of setting up alarm systems to prevent heat waves' effects on health and a summer mortality surveillance system were activated. Objectives: To highlight increase in mortality among fragile subjects, in relation to temperature changes in Turin, a metropolitan city. Results: The summer 2011 was characterized by a very fresh July and a very hot August in which there was a strong heat wave that lasted until the month of September. Throughout the summer in Turin there were 2611 deaths, of which 2269 between the over sixty five years old, against 2083 expected, with a statistically significant increase of mortality of about 9%,. Deepening the analysis, a strong positive excess in August (+21.4%) was observed, with a daily average of deaths of 19.65 against 16.19 expected. This difference was highly significant. Conclusions: The mortality in Turin in 2011 shows a clear correlation with the heat waves and indicates the need to extend the surveillance period to monitor anomalous events due to temperatures that may occur throughout the year, in order to implement timely preventive action in a climatic situation that presents conditions of extreme weather variability.

DOI : 10.1097/01.ede.0000417422.23862.b3

Keywords

population; social isolation; gender; temperature; death; summer; mortality; heat; epidemiology; society; health; climate change; weather; city; climate;