Abstract
Background: During the summer of 1999, Chicago’s second deadliest heat wave of the
decade resulted in at least 80 deaths. The high mortality, exceeded only by a 1995
heat wave, provided the opportunity to investigate the risks associated with heat-related
deaths and to examine the effectiveness of targeted heat-relieving interventions.
Methods: We conducted a case-control study to determine risk factors for heat-related
death. We collected demographic, health, and behavior information for 63 case patients
and 77 neighborhood-and-age-matched control subjects and generated odds ratios (ORs)
for each potential risk factor.
Results: Fifty-three percent of the case patients were aged <65 years, and psychiatric
illness was almost twice as common in the younger than the older age group. In the
multivariate analysis, the strongest risk factors for heat-related death were living
alone (OR=8.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4–48.1) and not leaving home daily
(OR=5.8; 95% CI, 1.5–22.0). The strongest protective factor was a working air conditioner
(OR=0.2; 95% CI, 0.1–0.7). Over half (53%) of the 80 decedents were seen or spoken
to on the day of or day before their deaths.
Conclusions: A working air conditioner is the strongest protective factor against
heat-related death. The relatively younger age of case patients in 1999 may be due
to post-1995 interventions that focused on the elderly of Chicago. However, social
isolation and advanced age remain important risk factors. Individual social contacts
and educational messages targeted toward at-risk populations during heat waves may
decrease the number of deaths in these groups.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to American Journal of Preventive MedicineAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Heat-related deaths during the July 1995 heat wave in Chicago.N Engl J Med. 1996; 335: 84-90
- Morbidity and mortality associated with the July 1980 heat wave in St. Louis and Kansas City, MO.JAMA. 1982; 247: 3327-3331
- Risk factors for heat stroke.JAMA. 1982; 247: 3332-3336
- National Association of Medical Examiners Ad Hoc Committee on the Definition of Heat-Related Fatalities. Criteria for the diagnosis of heat-related deaths.Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 1997; 18: 11-14
- City of Chicago Department of Public Health.2000 U.S. Census Bureau figures. Chicago Department of Public Health, Chicago2000
- Heat-related deaths during the summer of 1995, Wisconsin.Wis Med J. 1996; 95: 382-383
- Heat-related deaths in Philadelphia—1993.Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 1996; 17: 106-108
- Heat-related death and mental illness during the 1999 Cincinnati heat wave.Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 001; 22: 303-307
- Mortality from heat illness and heat-aggravated illness in the United States.Environ Res. 1972; 5: 1-58
- Heat stroke.J Clin Invest. 1938; 17: 249-262
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Extreme heat. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA1995
- Mechanism of heatstroke.J Trop Med Hyg. 1963; 66: 204-212
- Environmental heat illness.Arch Intern Med. 1974; 133: 841-864
- Rapid cooling in classic heat stroke.Am J Emerg Med. 1986; 4: 394-398
- Epidemic classical heat stroke.Medicine. 1982; 61: 189-197
Article info
Identification
Copyright
© 2002 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
ScienceDirect
Access this article on ScienceDirectLinked Article
- Heat-related illness: Current status of prevention effortsAmerican Journal of Preventive MedicineVol. 22Issue 4