Heatstroke-related ambulance dispatch risk before and during COVID-19 pandemic: Subgroup analysis by age, severity, and incident place.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In summer 2020 under the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has made public warnings that specific preventive measures such as maskwearing and stay-at-home orders, may increase heatstroke risk. In our previous work, we found a lower risk of heatstroke-related ambulance dispatches (HSAD) during the COVID-19 period, however, it is uncertain whether similar risk reductions can be observed in different vulnerable subgroups. This study aimed to determine the HSAD risk during the COVID-19 pandemic by age, severity, and incident place subgroups.

Method

A summer-specific (June-September), time-series analysis was performed, using daily HSAD and meteorological data from 47 Japanese prefectures from 2017 to 2020. A two-stage analysis was applied t

SUBMITTER: Hatakeyama K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8784651 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature