Heat stroke admissions during heat waves in 1,916 US counties for the period from 1999 to 2010 and their effect modifiers.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Heat stroke is a serious heat-related illness, especially among older adults. However, little is known regarding the spatiotemporal variation of heat stroke admissions during heat waves and what factors modify the adverse effects.

Methods

We conducted a large-scale national study among 23.5 million Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries per year residing in 1,916 US counties during 1999-2010. Heat wave days, defined as a period of at least two consecutive days with temperatures exceeding the 97th percentile of that county's temperatures, were matched to non-heat wave days by county and week. We fitted random-effects Poisson regression models to estimate the relative risk (RR) of heat stroke admissions on a heat wave day as compared to a matched non-heat wave day.

SUBMITTER: Wang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4977899 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature