Cold Weather Conditions and Risk of Hypothermia Among People Experiencing Homelessness: Implications for Prevention Strategies.

ABSTRACT: Hypothermia is a preventable condition that disproportionately affects individuals who experience homelessness, yet limited data exist to inform the response to cold weather. To fill this gap, we examined the association between meteorological conditions and the risk of hypothermia among homeless individuals. Hypothermic events were identified from emergency department charts and coroner's records between 2004 and 2015 in Toronto, Canada. A time-stratified case-crossover design with conditional logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between the meteorological conditions (minimum temperature and precipitation) and the risk of hypothermia. There were 97 hypothermic events identified: 79 injuries and 18 deaths. The odds of experiencing a hypothermic event increased 1.64-fold

SUBMITTER: Zhang P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6765826 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature