Exposure to non-optimal outdoor temperatures is responsible for an estimated 125,000 deaths and 1.8 million DALYs in the United States each year. However, it is still not well known which individuals and populations are most vulnerable. In particular, there is a shortage of evidence linking social determinants of health to temperature vulnerability, which constrains the ability of decision makers to protect high-risk groups through targeted policy interventions. Here we leverage the recent introduction of ICD-10 Z-codes – which encode the social determinants of health – to investigate potential risk factors for temperature-related morbidity.
Study locations: Arizona, California, Georgia, Missouri, New York and Oregon
Investigators: Noah Scovronick (PI), Howard Chang, Stefanie Ebelt
Current or Recent Funding Sources: National Institutes of Health (R21ES034190)
Previous Funding Sources: National Institutes of Health (R21ES023763)
Category: Climate and Health
PUBLICATIONS (* = student author)
Project Publications
- In progress
Foundational Work
- Thomas N*, Ebelt ST, Newman AJ, Scovronick N, D’Souza RR, Moss S, Warren JL, Strickland MJ, Darrow LA, Chang HH. Time-series analysis of daily ambient temperature and emergency department visits in five US cities with a comparison of exposure metrics derived from 1-km meteorology products. Environmental Health 20:55, 2021. (link)
- O’Lenick CR*, Winquist A, Chang HH, Kramer MR, Mulholland JA, Grundstein A, Sarnat SE. Evaluation of individual and area-level factors as modifiers of the association between warm-season temperature and pediatric asthma morbidity in Atlanta, GA. Environmental Research, 156:132-144, 2017b. (link)
- Heidari L*, Winquist A, Klein M, O’Lenick CR, Grundstein A, Sarnat SE. Susceptibility to heat-related fluid and electrolyte imbalance emergency department visits in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health – Special Issue on Climate Change and Human Health, 13:982, 2016. (link)
- Winquist A, Grundstein A, Chang HH, Hess J, Sarnat SE. Warm-season temperatures and emergency department visits in Atlanta, Georgia. Environmental Research, 147:314-323, 2016. (link)