Territory Differences in Adaptation to Heat among Persons Aged 65 Years and Over in Spain (1983–2018)

Miguel Ángel Navas-Martín (), José Antonio López-Bueno, María Soledad Ascaso-Sánchez, Fernando Follos, José Manuel Vellón, Isidro Juan Mirón, María Yolanda Luna, Gerardo Sánchez-Martínez, Julio Díaz () and Cristina Linares
Additional contact information
Miguel Ángel Navas-Martín: National School of Public Health, Carlos III Institute of Health, 28029 Madrid, Spain
José Antonio López-Bueno: National School of Public Health, Carlos III Institute of Health, 28029 Madrid, Spain
María Soledad Ascaso-Sánchez: National School of Public Health, Carlos III Institute of Health, 28029 Madrid, Spain
Fernando Follos: Tdot Soluciones Sostenibles, SL. Ferrol, 15401 A Coruña, Spain
José Manuel Vellón: Tdot Soluciones Sostenibles, SL. Ferrol, 15401 A Coruña, Spain
Isidro Juan Mirón: Regional Health Authority of Castile La Mancha, 45500 Torrijos, Spain
María Yolanda Luna: State Meteorological Agency, 28071 Madrid, Spain
Gerardo Sánchez-Martínez: The UNEP DTU Partnership, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Julio Díaz: National School of Public Health, Carlos III Institute of Health, 28029 Madrid, Spain
Cristina Linares: National School of Public Health, Carlos III Institute of Health, 28029 Madrid, Spain

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-12

Abstract: Climate change is currently regarded as the greatest global threat to human health, and its health-related consequences take different forms according to age, sex, socioeconomic level, and type of territory. The aim of this study is to ascertain the differences in vulnerability and the heat-adaptation process through the minimum mortality temperature (MMT) among the Spanish population aged ≥65 years by territorial classification. A retrospective, longitudinal, ecological time-series study, using provincial data on daily mortality and maximum daily temperature across the period 1983–2018, was performed, differentiating between urban and nonurban populations. The MMTs in the study period were higher for the ≥65-year age group in urban provinces, with a mean value of 29.6 °C (95%CI 29.2–30.0) versus 28.1 °C (95%CI 27.7–28.5) in nonurban provinces. This difference was statistically significant ( p < 0.05). In terms of adaptation levels, higher average values were obtained for nonurban areas, with values of 0.12 (95%CI −0.13–0.37), than for urban areas, with values of 0.09 (95%CI −0.27–0.45), though this difference was not statistically significant ( p < 0.05). These findings may contribute to better planning by making it possible to implement more specific public health prevention plans. Lastly, they highlight the need to conduct studies on heat-adaptation processes, taking into account various differential factors, such as age and territory.

Keywords: adaptation; MMT; age; elderly; rural; nonurban; urban; mortality; health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/4168/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/4168/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:5:p:4168-:d:1080675

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().