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. 2021 Jul;5(7):e415-e425.
doi: 10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00081-4.

Global, regional, and national burden of mortality associated with non-optimal ambient temperatures from 2000 to 2019: a three-stage modelling study

Qi Zhao  1 Yuming Guo  2 Tingting Ye  3 Antonio Gasparrini  4 Shilu Tong  5 Ala Overcenco  6 Aleš Urban  7 Alexandra Schneider  8 Alireza Entezari  9 Ana Maria Vicedo-Cabrera  10 Antonella Zanobetti  11 Antonis Analitis  12 Ariana Zeka  13 Aurelio Tobias  14 Baltazar Nunes  15 Barrak Alahmad  11 Ben Armstrong  16 Bertil Forsberg  17 Shih-Chun Pan  18 Carmen Íñiguez  19 Caroline Ameling  20 César De la Cruz Valencia  21 Christofer Åström  17 Danny Houthuijs  20 Do Van Dung  22 Dominic Royé  23 Ene Indermitte  24 Eric Lavigne  25 Fatemeh Mayvaneh  9 Fiorella Acquaotta  26 Francesca de'Donato  27 Francesco Di Ruscio  28 Francesco Sera  29 Gabriel Carrasco-Escobar  30 Haidong Kan  31 Hans Orru  24 Ho Kim  32 Iulian-Horia Holobaca  33 Jan Kyselý  7 Joana Madureira  34 Joel Schwartz  11 Jouni J K Jaakkola  35 Klea Katsouyanni  36 Magali Hurtado Diaz  21 Martina S Ragettli  37 Masahiro Hashizume  38 Mathilde Pascal  39 Micheline de Sousa Zanotti Stagliorio Coélho  40 Nicolás Valdés Ortega  41 Niilo Ryti  42 Noah Scovronick  43 Paola Michelozzi  27 Patricia Matus Correa  41 Patrick Goodman  44 Paulo Hilario Nascimento Saldiva  40 Rosana Abrutzky  45 Samuel Osorio  46 Shilpa Rao  28 Simona Fratianni  26 Tran Ngoc Dang  22 Valentina Colistro  47 Veronika Huber  48 Whanhee Lee  49 Xerxes Seposo  50 Yasushi Honda  51 Yue Leon Guo  52 Michelle L Bell  49 Shanshan Li  53
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Free article

Global, regional, and national burden of mortality associated with non-optimal ambient temperatures from 2000 to 2019: a three-stage modelling study

Qi Zhao et al. Lancet Planet Health. 2021 Jul.
Free article

Abstract

Background: Exposure to cold or hot temperatures is associated with premature deaths. We aimed to evaluate the global, regional, and national mortality burden associated with non-optimal ambient temperatures.

Methods: In this modelling study, we collected time-series data on mortality and ambient temperatures from 750 locations in 43 countries and five meta-predictors at a grid size of 0·5° × 0·5° across the globe. A three-stage analysis strategy was used. First, the temperature-mortality association was fitted for each location by use of a time-series regression. Second, a multivariate meta-regression model was built between location-specific estimates and meta-predictors. Finally, the grid-specific temperature-mortality association between 2000 and 2019 was predicted by use of the fitted meta-regression and the grid-specific meta-predictors. Excess deaths due to non-optimal temperatures, the ratio between annual excess deaths and all deaths of a year (the excess death ratio), and the death rate per 100 000 residents were then calculated for each grid across the world. Grids were divided according to regional groupings of the UN Statistics Division.

Findings: Globally, 5 083 173 deaths (95% empirical CI [eCI] 4 087 967-5 965 520) were associated with non-optimal temperatures per year, accounting for 9·43% (95% eCI 7·58-11·07) of all deaths (8·52% [6·19-10·47] were cold-related and 0·91% [0·56-1·36] were heat-related). There were 74 temperature-related excess deaths per 100 000 residents (95% eCI 60-87). The mortality burden varied geographically. Of all excess deaths, 2 617 322 (51·49%) occurred in Asia. Eastern Europe had the highest heat-related excess death rate and Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest cold-related excess death rate. From 2000-03 to 2016-19, the global cold-related excess death ratio changed by -0·51 percentage points (95% eCI -0·61 to -0·42) and the global heat-related excess death ratio increased by 0·21 percentage points (0·13-0·31), leading to a net reduction in the overall ratio. The largest decline in overall excess death ratio occurred in South-eastern Asia, whereas excess death ratio fluctuated in Southern Asia and Europe.

Interpretation: Non-optimal temperatures are associated with a substantial mortality burden, which varies spatiotemporally. Our findings will benefit international, national, and local communities in developing preparedness and prevention strategies to reduce weather-related impacts immediately and under climate change scenarios.

Funding: Australian Research Council and the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests We declare no competing interests.

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