Elsevier

The Lancet

Volume 309, Issue 8010, 5 March 1977, Pages 529-531
The Lancet

Hospital Practice
EFFECTS OF A HEATWAVE ON MORTALITY-RATES IN ELDERLY INPATIENTS

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Abstract

The relation between the number of inpatient deaths occurring in a department of geriatric medicine and external air temperatures recorded during the heatwave of 1976 in the U.K. was investigated. There was a close correlation between the mortality-rate and the weekly average of peak daily temperatures. There was less of an increase in mortality among the elderly patients in the better insulated buildings. The total number of deaths among elderly patients increased threefold during the hottest period of the heat- wave. These results suggest that measures may need to be taken in the elderly to combat the harmful effects of heatwaves.

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