Outpatient clinic visits during heat waves: findings from a large family medicine clinical database
| Autor: | Wael K. Al-Delaimy, Brittany Hailey, Kristen Guirguis, Devesh Vashishtha, Alexander Gershunov, William J. Sieber |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
Male
Hot Temperature 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Databases Factual Epidemiology Climate Primary care 01 natural sciences Ambulatory Care Facilities patient education California 03 medical and health sciences Databases primary care 0302 clinical medicine prevention Clinical Research Family medicine clinic Cardiovascular disorders/hypertension/DVT/atherosclerosis Medicine Outpatient clinic Humans 030212 general & internal medicine Factual 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Retrospective Studies business.industry respiratory diseases public health Retrospective cohort study Odds ratio Heat wave Middle Aged Confidence interval Public Health and Health Services Marital status Female business Family Practice Demography |
| Zdroj: | Family practice, vol 35, iss 5 |
| Popis: | Introduction The purpose of this study was to determine whether heat waves are associated with increased frequency of clinic visits for ICD-9 codes of illnesses traditionally associated with heat waves. Methods During 4 years of family medicine clinic data between 2012 and 2016, we identified six heat wave events in San Diego County. For each heat wave event, we selected a control period in the same season that was twice as long. Scheduling a visit on a heat wave day (versus a non-heat wave day) was the primary predictor, and receiving a primary ICD-9 disease code related to heat waves was the outcome. Analyses were adjusted for age, gender, race/ethnicity and marital status. Results Of the 5448 visits across the heat wave and control periods, 6.4% of visits (n = 346) were for heat wave-related diagnoses. Scheduling a visit on heat wave day was not associated with receiving a heat wave-related ICD code as compared with the control period (adjusted odds ratio: 1.35; 95% confidence interval: 0.86-1.36; P = 0.51). Discussion We show that in a relatively large and demographically diverse population, patients who schedule appointments during heat waves are not being more frequently seen for diagnoses typically associated with heat waves in the acute setting. Given that heat waves are increasing in frequency due to climate change, there is an opportunity to increase utilization of primary care clinics during heat waves. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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