Petrino Roberta, Garcia-Castrillo Luis, Uccheddu Graziano, Meucci Letizia, Codecà Roberta
Emergency Medicine Unit, Department of Critical Care, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Lugano, Switzerland.
Department of Emergency Medicine, Hospital Universitario Marques de Valdecilla, Santander, Spain.
Eur J Emerg Med. 2025 Apr 1;32(2):100-108. doi: 10.1097/MEJ.0000000000001196. Epub 2024 Nov 5.
Climate change is widely recognised as a critical public health challenge.
The objective of this study was to assess the awareness, preparedness and mitigation plans for climate change threats.
DESIGN, SETTINGS AND PARTICIPANTS: A cross-sectional observational study targeting emergency medical societies in different countries was conducted between 15 February and 15 March 2024.
The survey featured 16 closed questions on climate change awareness, preparedness and risks. Focus groups of 4-6 members were organised by country. Results were correlated to income levels, United Nations (UN) regional classification and the World Risk Index.
The questions were ranked using a Likert-like scale from 0 to 9 (9 being the highest). Descriptive statistics used central tendency estimators, and inferential analysis used chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests, with the significance level set at P < 0.05.
Forty-two focus groups responded, representing 36 countries: 21 (50%) high-income, seven (16.7%) low-income, five (11.9%) lower middle-income and nine (21.4%) upper middle-income countries, representing 31 of the 22 UN regions. According to the World Risk Index, the respondent countries belonged to the different categories as follows: very low risk, 6 (14%); low risk, 8 (19%); medium risk, 5 (12%); high risk, 8 (19%) and very high risk, 14 (34%). The estimated impact of climate change on national health systems had a mean score of 6.75 (SD = 2.16), while on Emergency Medical Systems was 6.96 (SD = 2.05). Overall, assessment and preparedness measures were reported by just 21.4 and 37.6% of respondents, respectively. Analysis by income did not show significant differences, with the exception of food supply. The main differences in the analysis by region were the risks of extreme weather events, vector-borne diseases and wildfires, whereas the World Risk Index was food and chain of supplies. Education and integration of health services were indicated by all as the main mitigation actions.
Geographical position and country risk index influence risk perception among focus groups more than income economy, with vector-borne diseases, extreme weather events and food shortages being the threats with the most variability. The most important actions identified to mitigate Climate Change effects are educational and strategic plans.
气候变化被广泛认为是一项严峻的公共卫生挑战。
本研究的目的是评估对气候变化威胁的认知、准备情况及缓解计划。
设计、地点与参与者：于2024年2月15日至3月15日开展了一项针对不同国家急诊医学会的横断面观察性研究。
该调查包含16个关于气候变化认知、准备情况及风险的封闭式问题。按国家组织了由4至6名成员组成的焦点小组。结果与收入水平、联合国区域分类及世界风险指数相关联。
问题采用类似李克特量表从0至9进行评分（9分为最高分）。描述性统计使用集中趋势估计量，推断性分析使用卡方检验和克鲁斯卡尔 - 沃利斯检验，显著性水平设定为P < 0.05。
42个焦点小组做出回应，代表36个国家：21个（50%）高收入国家、7个（16.7%）低收入国家、5个（11.9%）中低收入国家和9个（21.4%）中高收入国家，代表了联合国22个区域中的31个。根据世界风险指数，受访国家属于以下不同类别：极低风险，6个（14%）；低风险，8个（19%）；中等风险，5个（12%）；高风险，8个（19%）；极高风险，14个（34%）。气候变化对国家卫生系统预计影响的平均得分为6.75（标准差 = 2.16），而对急诊医疗系统的影响平均得分为6.96（标准差 = 2.05）。总体而言，分别仅有21.4%和37.6%的受访者报告了评估和准备措施。按收入进行的分析未显示出显著差异，但食品供应除外。按地区进行分析的主要差异在于极端天气事件、媒介传播疾病和野火的风险，而世界风险指数方面的差异在于食品和供应链。所有人都指出教育及卫生服务整合是主要的缓解行动。
地理位置和国家风险指数对焦点小组风险认知的影响大于收入经济状况，媒介传播疾病、极端天气事件和粮食短缺是变异性最大的威胁。确定的缓解气候变化影响的最重要行动是教育和战略计划。
