A vulnerability study of the low-income elderly in the context of high temperature and mortality in Seoul, Korea
| Autor: | Seunghun Joh, Young-Min Kim |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2006 |
| Předmět: |
Low income
Gerontology medicine.medical_specialty Hot Temperature Environmental Engineering Urban Population Population Psychological intervention Health care Humans Environmental Chemistry Medicine Mortality education Poverty Waste Management and Disposal Aged education.field_of_study Korea business.industry Mortality rate Public health Adaptation Physiological Pollution Risk of death business Demography |
| Zdroj: | Science of The Total Environment. 371:82-88 |
| ISSN: | 0048-9697 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2006.08.014 |
| Popis: | Introduction We investigated the impact of environmental high temperature on mortality in Seoul, Korea, and the consequences of high temperature-induced mortality with a focus on the low-income elderly. Methods Changes in the risk of death by age and income were estimated by a 1 °C increase in temperature using a generalized additive model adjusting for non-temperature related factors: time trends, seasonality, and air pollution. The study covered the years of 2000, 2001, and 2002. Results We found that income and age were potential factors in high-temperature-induced excess mortality. Evidences to support these results are as follows: first, regarding the effect of an economic factor in the association between mortality and high temperature, the study shows that the mortality rate of the low-income group is higher, by as much as 1.3- to 1.7-fold, than that of the general population. Second, taking age into consideration, the mortality of low-income elderly people is 1.5-fold higher than that of the whole low-income group. The combined effect of income and age on mortality is estimated as 2.3-fold higher than that of the general population. But the results of the low-income and elderly group were not statistically significant due to wide standard deviation. Conclusions The relationship between high-temperature-induced excess mortality, income, and age suggests the need for a public health message, yet many results were not statistically significant: preventive and health care interventions need to be administered to the elderly and low-income group during periods of high temperature. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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