The impacts of extreme temperature on mortality and emergency hospital admissions within East Sussex in comparison with pre-existing national trends

Abstract

Abstract Background The impacts of heatwaves are a rapidly growing area of study; however, much of the existing research focusses on national data analysis. This article aims to add a local perspective using data from only one county, East Sussex, and comparing these with the pre-existing national data. Methods Population data were obtained from publicly available sources such as the Office of National Statistics, in addition to anonymized data from patients. Statistical analysis calculated excess mortality and emergency hospital admissions associated with both winter and heatwaves. Further analyses into factors associated with worse health outcomes in pre-existing data, such as the extremes of age (under 1 s and over 75 s), dementia and respiratory conditions, were conducted and their effect on excess mortality and emergency admissions was compared with national data. Results Excess winter mortality within East Sussex averaged 22.5%. Excess heatwave mortality averaged 17%, measuring higher than national data. The relative significance of these data is expected to increase over the next 30 years in line with the UK Health Security Agency projection of heat-related mortality tripling by 2050 in the context of global warming and increasing temperatures. Conclusions Although the number of residents dying or requiring emergency admission due to cold weather is larger than that of heatwaves, trends show a worsening impact of heatwaves. The results of this report are significant findings which show more action is required to mitigate the effects of extreme heat.