An INRS team is studying the health burden of heat and its
impact on the population
QUEBEC
CITY, June 19, 2024 /CNW/ - While a great deal
of research in Quebec has focused
on how heat waves affect the health of the population, few studies
have examined the impact of heat throughout the entire summer.
In collaboration with the Institut national de santé publique du
Québec (INSPQ) and Health Canada, a team from the Institut national
de la recherche scientifique (INRS) has examined the unsuspected
effects of heat in general—extreme or not—on Quebec's healthcare system. According to the
data analyzed in the course of their research, the healthcare
system is affected all summer long, not just during extreme heat
waves, which are defined as very high temperatures lasting at least
three days.
The conclusions of their study could yield solutions to speed
the rollout of public health measures to better protect Quebecers
from the consequences of heat.
"International studies have already examined the effects of high
temperatures, but mainly on mortality. Our study looks at
Quebec as a whole and addresses a
number of health indicators, including both mortality,
hospitalizations, emergency department visits, while using a
state-of-the-art and recognized methodology," says Professor
Fateh Chebana from INRS, who co-authored the article and
specializes in data science research applied to the environment and
environmental health
In the study, the scientists sought to quantify heat-related
mortality and morbidity in terms of five all-cause health outcomes:
mortality, hospitalizations, emergency department visits, ambulance
transports, and calls to Info-Santé (a phone consultation service).
These outcomes were studied across all of Quebec's health regions.
"We've seen the effects of high temperatures on the entire
healthcare system, from Info-Santé calls to hospitalizations and
even deaths. Not only does severe temperatures pose risks for
public health, but they also result in direct costs for our system,
which is already struggling to keep up," explains Jérémie
Boudreault, lead author of the article and PhD student in data
science and environmental health at INRS under the supervision of
Professor Fateh Chebana.
Highlights
- Temperatures are considered high as soon as there is a
statistically significant impact on health. As for extreme heat
waves, they are characterized by very high temperatures that last
at least three consecutive days.
- Each summer, high temperatures in Quebec have been associated with 470 deaths,
225 hospitalizations, 36,000 emergency department visits, 7,200
ambulance transports, and 15,000 calls to Info-Santé.
- The health burden has been concentrated in the 5% hottest
summer days, which account for nearly 200 deaths, 170
hospitalizations, 6,200 emergency room visits, 1,500 ambulance
transports, and 3,300 calls to Info-Santé.
"Given that extreme heat will only be exacerbated by climate
change, our team hopes that these results will lead to more
measures that will better protect the Quebec population against its effects. Our
current work focuses on the costs associated with this health
burden and will also forecast the health and economic impacts for
the decades to come," concludes Jérémie Boudreault.
About the paper
The article, "Estimating the heat-related mortality and
morbidity burden in the province of Quebec, Canada," was co-authored by Jérémie
Boudreault (INRS Centre Eau Terre Environment Research Centre and
INSPQ), Éric Lavigne (Health
Canada, University of Ottawa), Céline
Campagna (INSPQ, INRS), and Fateh Chebana (INRS Centre Eau Terre
Environment Research Centre). It was published in the
Environmental Research journal in June 2024. DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2024.119347
For this research, first author Jérémie Boudreault was funded by
the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of
Canada (NSERC) through a
Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. He also received funding
from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Ouranos, and the
Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ).
About INRS
INRS is an academic institution dedicated exclusively to
graduate research and training in strategic sectors in Quebec. Since its creation in 1969, it has
actively contributed to Quebec's
economic, social, and cultural development. INRS is first in
Canada in research intensity. It
is made up of four interdisciplinary research and training centres
located in Quebec City,
Montreal, Laval, and Varennes, which focus their efforts on
strategic sectors: water, earth, and environment (Eau Terre
Environnement Research Centre); energy, materials, and
telecommunications (Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications Research
Centre); urbanization, culture, and society (Urbanisation Culture
Société Research Centre); and health and biotechnology
(Armand-Frappier Santé Biotechnologie Research Centre). The INRS
community includes over 1,500 students, postdoctoral fellows, and
faculty and staff members.
SOURCE Institut National de la recherche scientifique (INRS)