Extreme cold weather and circulatory diseases of older adults: A time-stratified case-crossover study in jinan, China.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to investigate the acute effect of extreme cold weather on circulatory disease mortality of older adults in Jinan, with individual and regional-scale characteristics as subgroup analyses to further identify vulnerable populations.

METHODS

This study contained the death data of Jinan from 2011 to 2020 (Nov-Mar). A time-stratified case-crossover method was used to estimate the effects of extreme cold weather and lags 0-8 days, controlling for holiday and relative humidity. To evaluate the impact of different durations and thresholds of extreme cold weather, we considered 4 cold day and 12 cold wave definitions RESULTS: Our results showed an increase in circulatory disease deaths under several definitions. The number of older adults died of circulatory diseases totaled 92,119 during the study period. In the definitions of cold day, the maximum significant effect ranging from 1.08 (95% CI: 1.03,1.14) to 1.13 (95% CI: 1.04,1.24) and appeared on Lag5 or Lag6. In the definitions of cold wave, the maximum significant effect ranging from 1.07 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.12) to 1.14 (95% CI: 1.03, 1.25). The cold effect is mainly attributable to cold day rather than an added effect related to the duration. Our research confirmed that extreme cold weather had a stronger impact on women [maximum effects with an OR of 1.21 (95% CI: 1.08, 1.36) in P1, 1.19 (95% CI: 1.05, 1.36) in M12)], and the effect gradient increased with age.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings support the evidence on the impact of extreme cold weather on circulatory disease mortality and provide a basis for policymakers to select target groups to develop policies and reduce the public health burden.