IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v15y2018i8p1663-d162148.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing Effect Modification of Excess Winter Death by Causes of Death and Individual Characteristics in Zhejiang Province, China: A Multi-Community Case-Only Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Yiling He

    (School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
    These authors contributed to the work equally and should be regarded as co-first authors.)

  • Xuehai Zhang

    (Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 31004, China
    These authors contributed to the work equally and should be regarded as co-first authors.)

  • Meng Ren

    (School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China)

  • Junzhe Bao

    (School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China)

  • Cunrui Huang

    (School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China)

  • Shakoor Hajat

    (Department of Social & Environmental Health Research, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK)

  • Adrian G Barnett

    (School of Public Health and Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland 4059, Australia)

Abstract

Mortality in many parts of the world has a seasonal pattern, with a marked excess of deaths during winter. To date, however, there is very little published evidence on the nature of this wintertime excess in low- and middle-income countries. In this study, we aimed to quantify the extent of the death peak in winter and to assess effect modification on excess winter death (EWD) by individual characteristics and cause of deaths in China. We used a Cosinor model to examine seasonal patterns for specific causes of deaths and a case-only analysis of deaths in winter compared with other seasons to assess effect modification by individual characteristics. A total of 398,529 deaths were investigated between January 2010 and December 2013 in Zhejiang Province, China. Deaths peaked in winter, and overall mortality was around 30% higher in winter than in summer. Although diseases of the respiratory and circulatory systems were highly seasonal, surprisingly we observed that deaths from mental and behavioral disorders exhibited greater fluctuation. Males, the elderly and illiterate individuals suffered high EWD. EWDs were also particularly common in emergency rooms, at home, on the way to hospitals, and in nursing homes/family wards. This study highlighted the high EWD in some previously unreported groups, indicating new information to facilitate the targeting of necessary preventive measures to those at greatest risk in order to mitigate wintertime death burdens.

Suggested Citation

  • Yiling He & Xuehai Zhang & Meng Ren & Junzhe Bao & Cunrui Huang & Shakoor Hajat & Adrian G Barnett, 2018. "Assessing Effect Modification of Excess Winter Death by Causes of Death and Individual Characteristics in Zhejiang Province, China: A Multi-Community Case-Only Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-11, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:8:p:1663-:d:162148
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/8/1663/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/8/1663/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chun-Quan Ou & Yun-Feng Song & Jun Yang & Patsy Yuen-Kwan Chau & Lin Yang & Ping-Yan Chen & Chit-Ming Wong, 2013. "Excess Winter Mortality and Cold Temperatures in a Subtropical City, Guangzhou, China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(10), pages 1-1, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Susan A. Carlson & Geoffrey P. Whitfield & Ryan T. Davis & Erin L. Peterson & Janet E. Fulton & David Berrigan, 2021. "Associations between Perceptions and Measures of Weather and Walking, United States—2015," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-13, August.
    2. Xunfeng Yang & Lianfa Li & Jinfeng Wang & Jixia Huang & Shijun Lu, 2015. "Cardiovascular Mortality Associated with Low and High Temperatures: Determinants of Inter-Region Vulnerability in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-16, May.
    3. Md. Mahbub Alam & A.S.M. Mahtab & M. Razu Ahmed & Quazi K. Hassan, 2022. "Developing a Cold-Related Mortality Database in Bangladesh," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-20, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:8:p:1663-:d:162148. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.