Regional differences in the impacts of temperature extremes on cardiovascular health in the Czech Republic

0457448 - ÚFA 2016 FR eng A - Abstrakt
Urban, Aleš - Kyselý, Jan
Regional differences in the impacts of temperature extremes on cardiovascular health in the Czech Republic.
Web of 9th International Conference on Urban Climate. Toulouse: ICUC9, 2015.
[International Conference on Urban Climate /9./. 20.06.2015-24.6.2015, Toulouse]
Institucionální podpora: RVO:68378289
Klíčová slova: temperature extremes * cardiovascular mortality and morbidity
Kód oboru RIV: DG - Vědy o atmosféře, meteorologie
https://www.conftool.com/icuc9/index.php?page=browseSessions&abstracts=show&form_session=110&presentations=show

Both high and low temperature extremes are associated with pronounced effects on human health in mid-latitudes. While the effects of heat stress are exacerbated in cities, cold-related mortality may be less pronounced in urban areas, due to higher temperatures, lower wind chill effect, and better accessibility of health services (particularly during heavy snowfall episodes). The present study resumes previous research that examined differences in the impacts of temperature extremes between the city of Prague and a rural region in the Czech Republic (South Bohemia), by evaluating in detail spatial patterns of the effects of high and low temperature extremes on cardiovascular mortality and morbidity (hospital admissions). We make use of age-standardized mortality and morbidity datasets since 1994, and examine the impacts on main groups of cardiovascular diseases in individual regions of the Czech Republic. Using the Census 2001 databases, regions with relatively high and low socioeconomic status (SES) are identified in the first step, and they are further split according to the proportion of urban population and into predominantly industrial and agricultural areas. Differences in the impacts of heat- and cold-stress on mortality and morbidity in these regions are examined. We apply Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) to model relationships between air temperature, biometeorological indices (apparent temperature, physiologically equivalent temperature) and mortality or morbidity, adjusted for environmental and socioeconomic confounders and/or modifiers. After taking into account lagged effects in temperature-mortality relationships, we find that heat-related mortality is most pronounced in highly urbanised districts with low SES, while cold stress leads to excess mortality especially in rural districts with low SES. The results help identify population most at risk and improve biometeorological warning systems as well as other measures preventing negative heat- and cold-stress effects on public health.
Trvalý link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0257998