Heat-related illness affects some ethnic groups

Doha: Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) research has shown that some ethnic groups are disproportionately affected by heat-related illness. The research, conducted by Dr Grigory Ostrovskiy, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Dr Ziyad Mahfoud, Associate Professor of Healthcare Policy and Research, and student Rana Abualsaud, showed that emergency room visits in California for heat-related illness like heat exhaustion and heatstroke rose by 35 percent over a decade. The increase was higher among African Americans, Asian Americans and Hispanics than in the overall population. 

Dr Ostrovskiy said,  “We are glad this research has been highlighted by Reuters. Global warming will lead to more heat-related illness in the future and further research is needed to make sure we understand the factors that lead to the more vulnerable populations being disproportionately affected. This study is also relevant to Qatar as it shows how an environmental tracking program could be very useful in this country, which can get very hot.”

The study, which was published in the journal Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, found that between 2005 and 2015 heat-related emergency department visits rose by an average of 67 percent for African Americans, 53 percent for Asian Americans and 63 percent for Hispanics. These visits increased by only 27 percent among whites. The rates for African Americans and Asians were always higher than for the overall population across the decade, while Hispanic populations and white populations had similar increases in rates until 2013, after which the rates diverged.

According to the study, the overall trend shows an increase in presentation during the last few years for all ethnicities, which may be explained by a common risk factor such as increase in peak temperature and heat intensity. The disproportionate increase [among minorities] prompts the search for ethnicity-based factors that affect heat vulnerability. 

The research was based on data drawn from the California Environmental Health Tracking Program, which logs emergency room visits and hospitalizations due to heat-related medical conditions.