Higher temperatures may increase heart disease mortality risk
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In a new study, researchers reported that higher ambient temperatures as observed in Kuwait may be associated with higher CVD mortality.
“We were surprised by the scale of effects that extremely hot temperatures can have on cardiovascular mortality in hot and hyper-arid regions,” Barrak Alahmad, MBChB, MPH, mission scholar from Kuwait University and a PhD candidate in environmental health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told Healio. “We found that the risks of cardiovascular death in Kuwait at extreme high temperatures were remarkably high, with a doubling to tripling of cardiovascular mortality.”
Researchers utilized a time-series design to measure daily CV mortality in Kuwait from 2010 to 2016 and to measure average ambient temperature during a 24-hour period. The country has an estimated population of 4.1 million. Results were adjusted for relative humidity, air pollutants and other factors that may confound the relationship shown in a time-series design such as seasonality, time trends and day of the week.
During a study period of 2,532 days, there were 15,609 CV death at an average rate of 6.2 deaths per day. The average ambient temperature was 82.2°F, with a minimum mortality temperature of 94.5°F and an extreme temperature of 108.9°F, according to the research letter published in Circulation.
Compared with the minimum mortality temperature, the RR for CV death at the extreme temperature was 3.09 (95% CI, 1.72-5.55). The risk was similar among men (RR = 3.53; 95% CI, 1.74-7.16) and women (RR = 2.36; 95% CI, 0.83-6.66). The RR for CV death was 3.84 for patients aged 15 to 64 years (95% CI, 1.57-7.7) and 2.29 for those older than 65 years (95% CI, 0.96-5.48).
Researchers observed a U-shaped exposure-response relationship between temperature and CV mortality. Adjusted CVD mortality risk increased with the temperature as it went beyond the minimum mortality temperature.
“While this study focuses on findings from Kuwait, there is a potential for broader impact,” Alahmad said in an interview. “Population health data is not abundantly available in the Middle East, and temperatures are rising to unprecedented levels. Previous climate change health studies have been performed in the western world with relatively cooler temperatures than Kuwait. In the U.S., there might be other hot environments, but the relationship between temperature and cardiovascular mortality is likely to be population-specific and less generalizable.”– by Darlene Dobkowski
For more information:
Barrak Alahmad, MBChB, MPH, can be reached at b.alahmad@g.harvard.edu.
Disclosures: Alahmad reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
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