Heatwaves and mortality in Queensland 2010–2019: implications for a homogenous state-wide approach
Franklin, Richard C., Mason, Hannah, King, Jemma C., Peden, Amy E., Nairn, John, Miller, Lauren, Watt, Kerrianne, and Fitzgerald, Gerry (2023) Heatwaves and mortality in Queensland 2010–2019: implications for a homogenous state-wide approach. International Journal of Biometeorology, 67. pp. 503-515.
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Abstract
Heatwaves are a significant cause of adverse health outcomes and mortality in Australia, worsening with climate change. In Queensland, the northeastern-most state, little is known about the impact of heatwaves outside of the capital city of Brisbane. This study aims to explore the impact of heatwaves on mortality across various demographic and environmental conditions within Queensland from 2010 to 2019. The Excess Heat Factor was used to indicate heatwave periods at the Statistical Area 2 (SA2) level. Registered deaths data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and heatwave data from the Bureau of Meteorology were matched using a case-crossover approach. Relative risk and 95% confidence intervals were calculated across years, regions, age, sex, rurality, socioeconomic status, and cause of death. Heatwaves were associated with a 5% increase in all-cause mortality compared to deaths on non-heatwave days, with variability across the state. The risk of death on a heatwave day versus a non-heatwave day varied by heatwave severity. Individuals living in urban centers, the elderly, and those living in regions of lower socioeconomic status were most impacted by heatwave mortality. The relative risk of dying from neoplasms, nervous system conditions, respiratory conditions, and mental and behavioral conditions increased during heatwaves. As heatwaves increase in Queensland due to climate change, understanding the impact of heatwaves on mortality across Queensland is important to tailor public health messages. There is considerable variability across communities, demographic groups, and medical conditions, and as such messages need to be tailored to risk.
| Item ID: | 78383 |
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| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1432-1254 |
| Keywords: | Australia, Climate change, Deaths, Excess Heat Factor, Heatwave, Public health |
| Copyright Information: | © The Author(s) 2023. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Date Deposited: | 07 Jun 2023 04:21 |
| FoR Codes: | 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4202 Epidemiology > 420203 Environmental epidemiology @ 100% |
| SEO Codes: | 20 HEALTH > 2004 Public health (excl. specific population health) > 200406 Health protection and disaster response @ 100% |
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