Mortality Related to Cold Temperatures in Two Capitals of the Baltics : Tallinn and Riga
(2019) In Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) 55(8).- Abstract
Background and objectives: Despite global warming, the climate in Northern Europe is generally cold, and the large number of deaths due to non-optimal temperatures is likely due to cold temperatures. The aim of the current study is to investigate the association between cold temperatures and all-cause mortality, as well as cause-specific mortality, in Tallinn and Riga in North-Eastern Europe. Materials and Methods: We used daily information on deaths from state death registries and minimum temperatures from November to March over the period 1997-2015 in Tallinn and 2009-2015 in Riga. The relationship between the daily minimum temperature and mortality was investigated using the Poisson regression, combined with a distributed lag... (More)
Background and objectives: Despite global warming, the climate in Northern Europe is generally cold, and the large number of deaths due to non-optimal temperatures is likely due to cold temperatures. The aim of the current study is to investigate the association between cold temperatures and all-cause mortality, as well as cause-specific mortality, in Tallinn and Riga in North-Eastern Europe. Materials and Methods: We used daily information on deaths from state death registries and minimum temperatures from November to March over the period 1997-2015 in Tallinn and 2009-2015 in Riga. The relationship between the daily minimum temperature and mortality was investigated using the Poisson regression, combined with a distributed lag non-linear model considering lag times of up to 21 days. Results: We found significantly higher all-cause mortality owing to cold temperatures both in Tallinn (Relative Risk (RR) = 1.28, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.01-1.62) and in Riga (RR = 1.41, 95% CI 1.11-1.79). In addition, significantly increased mortality due to cold temperatures was observed in the 75+ age group (RR = 1.64, 95% CI 1.17-2.31) and in cardiovascular mortality (RR = 1.83, 95% CI 1.31-2.55) in Tallinn and in the under 75 age group in Riga (RR = 1.58, 95% CI 1.12-2.22). In this study, we found no statistically significant relationship between mortality due to respiratory or external causes and cold days. The cold-related attributable fraction (AF) was 7.4% (95% CI -3.7-17.5) in Tallinn and 8.3% (95% CI -0.5-16.3) in Riga. This indicates that a relatively large proportion of deaths in cold periods can be related to cold in North-Eastern Europe, where winters are relatively harsh.
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- author
- Åström, Daniel Oudin LU ; Veber, Triin ; Martinsone, Žanna ; Kaļužnaja, Darja ; Indermitte, Ene ; Oudin, Anna LU and Orru, Hans
- organization
- publishing date
- 2019-08-02
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)
- volume
- 55
- issue
- 8
- article number
- 429
- publisher
- MDPI AG
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85071168904
- pmid:31382432
- ISSN
- 1648-9144
- DOI
- 10.3390/medicina55080429
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- 29f76111-1323-44db-987d-3a241d99ab65
- date added to LUP
- 2019-08-12 09:23:34
- date last changed
- 2024-06-15 00:02:06
@article{29f76111-1323-44db-987d-3a241d99ab65,
abstract = {{<p>Background and objectives: Despite global warming, the climate in Northern Europe is generally cold, and the large number of deaths due to non-optimal temperatures is likely due to cold temperatures. The aim of the current study is to investigate the association between cold temperatures and all-cause mortality, as well as cause-specific mortality, in Tallinn and Riga in North-Eastern Europe. Materials and Methods: We used daily information on deaths from state death registries and minimum temperatures from November to March over the period 1997-2015 in Tallinn and 2009-2015 in Riga. The relationship between the daily minimum temperature and mortality was investigated using the Poisson regression, combined with a distributed lag non-linear model considering lag times of up to 21 days. Results: We found significantly higher all-cause mortality owing to cold temperatures both in Tallinn (Relative Risk (RR) = 1.28, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.01-1.62) and in Riga (RR = 1.41, 95% CI 1.11-1.79). In addition, significantly increased mortality due to cold temperatures was observed in the 75+ age group (RR = 1.64, 95% CI 1.17-2.31) and in cardiovascular mortality (RR = 1.83, 95% CI 1.31-2.55) in Tallinn and in the under 75 age group in Riga (RR = 1.58, 95% CI 1.12-2.22). In this study, we found no statistically significant relationship between mortality due to respiratory or external causes and cold days. The cold-related attributable fraction (AF) was 7.4% (95% CI -3.7-17.5) in Tallinn and 8.3% (95% CI -0.5-16.3) in Riga. This indicates that a relatively large proportion of deaths in cold periods can be related to cold in North-Eastern Europe, where winters are relatively harsh.</p>}},
author = {{Åström, Daniel Oudin and Veber, Triin and Martinsone, Žanna and Kaļužnaja, Darja and Indermitte, Ene and Oudin, Anna and Orru, Hans}},
issn = {{1648-9144}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{08}},
number = {{8}},
publisher = {{MDPI AG}},
series = {{Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)}},
title = {{Mortality Related to Cold Temperatures in Two Capitals of the Baltics : Tallinn and Riga}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/medicina55080429}},
doi = {{10.3390/medicina55080429}},
volume = {{55}},
year = {{2019}},
}