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The Effect of Heat Waves on Mental Health in a Temperate Australian City

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to identify mental, behavioral, and cognitive disorders that may be triggered or exacerbated during heat waves, predisposing individuals to heat-related morbidity and mortality. DESIGN: Using health outcome data from Adelaide, South Australia, for 1993–2006, we...

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Autores principales: Hansen, Alana, Bi, Peng, Nitschke, Monika, Ryan, Philip, Pisaniello, Dino, Tucker, Graeme
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 2008
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2569097/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18941580
http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.11339
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author Hansen, Alana
Bi, Peng
Nitschke, Monika
Ryan, Philip
Pisaniello, Dino
Tucker, Graeme
author_facet Hansen, Alana
Bi, Peng
Nitschke, Monika
Ryan, Philip
Pisaniello, Dino
Tucker, Graeme
author_sort Hansen, Alana
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to identify mental, behavioral, and cognitive disorders that may be triggered or exacerbated during heat waves, predisposing individuals to heat-related morbidity and mortality. DESIGN: Using health outcome data from Adelaide, South Australia, for 1993–2006, we estimated the effect of heat waves on hospital admissions and mortalities attributed to mental, behavioral, and cognitive disorders. We analyzed data using Poisson regression accounting for overdispersion and controlling for season and long-term trend, and we performed threshold analysis using hockey stick regression. RESULTS: Above a threshold of 26.7°C, we observed a positive association between ambient temperature and hospital admissions for mental and behavioral disorders. Compared with non–heat-wave periods, hospital admissions increased by 7.3% during heat waves. Specific illnesses for which admissions increased included organic illnesses, including symptomatic mental disorders; dementia; mood (affective) disorders; neurotic, stress related, and somatoform disorders; disorders of psychological development; and senility. Mortalities attributed to mental and behavioral disorders increased during heat waves in the 65- to 74-year age group and in persons with schizophrenia, schizotypal, and delusional disorders. Dementia deaths increased in those up to 65 years of age. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that episodes of extreme heat pose a salient risk to the health and well-being of the mentally ill. Relevance to Clinical or Professional Practice: Improvements in the management and care of the mentally ill need to be addressed to avoid an increase in psychiatric morbidity and mortality as heat waves become more frequent.
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spelling pubmed-25690972008-10-21 The Effect of Heat Waves on Mental Health in a Temperate Australian City Hansen, Alana Bi, Peng Nitschke, Monika Ryan, Philip Pisaniello, Dino Tucker, Graeme Environ Health Perspect Research OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to identify mental, behavioral, and cognitive disorders that may be triggered or exacerbated during heat waves, predisposing individuals to heat-related morbidity and mortality. DESIGN: Using health outcome data from Adelaide, South Australia, for 1993–2006, we estimated the effect of heat waves on hospital admissions and mortalities attributed to mental, behavioral, and cognitive disorders. We analyzed data using Poisson regression accounting for overdispersion and controlling for season and long-term trend, and we performed threshold analysis using hockey stick regression. RESULTS: Above a threshold of 26.7°C, we observed a positive association between ambient temperature and hospital admissions for mental and behavioral disorders. Compared with non–heat-wave periods, hospital admissions increased by 7.3% during heat waves. Specific illnesses for which admissions increased included organic illnesses, including symptomatic mental disorders; dementia; mood (affective) disorders; neurotic, stress related, and somatoform disorders; disorders of psychological development; and senility. Mortalities attributed to mental and behavioral disorders increased during heat waves in the 65- to 74-year age group and in persons with schizophrenia, schizotypal, and delusional disorders. Dementia deaths increased in those up to 65 years of age. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that episodes of extreme heat pose a salient risk to the health and well-being of the mentally ill. Relevance to Clinical or Professional Practice: Improvements in the management and care of the mentally ill need to be addressed to avoid an increase in psychiatric morbidity and mortality as heat waves become more frequent. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 2008-10 2008-06-30 /pmc/articles/PMC2569097/ /pubmed/18941580 http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.11339 Text en http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ Publication of EHP lies in the public domain and is therefore without copyright. All text from EHP may be reprinted freely. Use of materials published in EHP should be acknowledged (for example, ?Reproduced with permission from Environmental Health Perspectives?); pertinent reference information should be provided for the article from which the material was reproduced. Articles from EHP, especially the News section, may contain photographs or illustrations copyrighted by other commercial organizations or individuals that may not be used without obtaining prior approval from the holder of the copyright.
spellingShingle Research
Hansen, Alana
Bi, Peng
Nitschke, Monika
Ryan, Philip
Pisaniello, Dino
Tucker, Graeme
The Effect of Heat Waves on Mental Health in a Temperate Australian City
title The Effect of Heat Waves on Mental Health in a Temperate Australian City
title_full The Effect of Heat Waves on Mental Health in a Temperate Australian City
title_fullStr The Effect of Heat Waves on Mental Health in a Temperate Australian City
title_full_unstemmed The Effect of Heat Waves on Mental Health in a Temperate Australian City
title_short The Effect of Heat Waves on Mental Health in a Temperate Australian City
title_sort effect of heat waves on mental health in a temperate australian city
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2569097/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18941580
http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.11339
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