Association between income levels and prevalence of heat- and cold-related illnesses in Korean adults
Abstract Background Given that low income worsens health outcomes, income differences may affect health disparities in weather-related illnesses. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between income levels and prevalence of heat- and cold-related illnesses among Korean adults. Met...
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doaj-99299568d3b9414380a301051c8d18ca2021-07-04T11:17:15ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582021-06-0121111010.1186/s12889-021-11227-4Association between income levels and prevalence of heat- and cold-related illnesses in Korean adultsJin-young Min0Hyeong-Seong Lee1Yeon-Soo Choi2Kyoung-bok Min3Veterans Medical Research Institute, Veterans Health Service Medical CenterDepartment of Statistics and Data Science, College of Commerce and Economics, Yonsei UniversityDepartment of Statistics and Data Science, College of Commerce and Economics, Yonsei UniversityDepartment of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National UniversityAbstract Background Given that low income worsens health outcomes, income differences may affect health disparities in weather-related illnesses. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between income levels and prevalence of heat- and cold-related illnesses among Korean adults. Methods The current study comprised 535,186 participants with all variables on income and health behaviors. Patients with temperature-related illnesses were defined as individuals with outpatient medical code of heat- and cold-related illnesses. We categorized individual income into three levels: “low” for the fourth quartile (0–25%), “middle” for the second and the third quartiles (25–75%), and “high” for the first quartile (75–100%). To examine income-related health disparities, Cox proportional hazard regression was performed. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CI (confidence interval) for heat- and cold-related illnesses were provided. The model adjusted for age, sex, smoking status, alcohol drinking, exercise, body mass index, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and local income per capita. Results A total of 5066 (0.95%) and 3302 (0.62%) cases identified patients with heat- and cold-related illnesses, respectively. Compared with high income patients, the adjusted HR for heat-related illnesses was significantly increased in the low income (adjusted HR = 1.103; 95% CI: 1.022–1.191). For cold-related illnesses, participants with low income were likely to have 1.217 times greater likelihood than those with high income (95% CI: 1.107–1.338), after adjusting for other covariates. In the stratified analysis of age (20–64 years and over 65 years) and sex, there was no difference in the likelihood of heat-related illnesses according to income levels. On the other hand, an HR for cold-related illnesses was higher in patients aged 20 to 64 years than in those aged over 65 years. Male with low income had also a higher HR for cold-related illnesses than female with low income. Conclusions Our results showed that heat- or cold-related illnesses were more prevalent in Koreans with low income than those with high income. Strategies for low-income subgroups were needed to reduce greater damage due to the influence of extreme temperature events and to implement effective adaptation.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11227-4Heat waveCold spellClimate changeIllnessesThermoregulation |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Jin-young Min Hyeong-Seong Lee Yeon-Soo Choi Kyoung-bok Min |
spellingShingle |
Jin-young Min Hyeong-Seong Lee Yeon-Soo Choi Kyoung-bok Min Association between income levels and prevalence of heat- and cold-related illnesses in Korean adults BMC Public Health Heat wave Cold spell Climate change Illnesses Thermoregulation |
author_facet |
Jin-young Min Hyeong-Seong Lee Yeon-Soo Choi Kyoung-bok Min |
author_sort |
Jin-young Min |
title |
Association between income levels and prevalence of heat- and cold-related illnesses in Korean adults |
title_short |
Association between income levels and prevalence of heat- and cold-related illnesses in Korean adults |
title_full |
Association between income levels and prevalence of heat- and cold-related illnesses in Korean adults |
title_fullStr |
Association between income levels and prevalence of heat- and cold-related illnesses in Korean adults |
title_full_unstemmed |
Association between income levels and prevalence of heat- and cold-related illnesses in Korean adults |
title_sort |
association between income levels and prevalence of heat- and cold-related illnesses in korean adults |
publisher |
BMC |
series |
BMC Public Health |
issn |
1471-2458 |
publishDate |
2021-06-01 |
description |
Abstract Background Given that low income worsens health outcomes, income differences may affect health disparities in weather-related illnesses. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between income levels and prevalence of heat- and cold-related illnesses among Korean adults. Methods The current study comprised 535,186 participants with all variables on income and health behaviors. Patients with temperature-related illnesses were defined as individuals with outpatient medical code of heat- and cold-related illnesses. We categorized individual income into three levels: “low” for the fourth quartile (0–25%), “middle” for the second and the third quartiles (25–75%), and “high” for the first quartile (75–100%). To examine income-related health disparities, Cox proportional hazard regression was performed. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CI (confidence interval) for heat- and cold-related illnesses were provided. The model adjusted for age, sex, smoking status, alcohol drinking, exercise, body mass index, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and local income per capita. Results A total of 5066 (0.95%) and 3302 (0.62%) cases identified patients with heat- and cold-related illnesses, respectively. Compared with high income patients, the adjusted HR for heat-related illnesses was significantly increased in the low income (adjusted HR = 1.103; 95% CI: 1.022–1.191). For cold-related illnesses, participants with low income were likely to have 1.217 times greater likelihood than those with high income (95% CI: 1.107–1.338), after adjusting for other covariates. In the stratified analysis of age (20–64 years and over 65 years) and sex, there was no difference in the likelihood of heat-related illnesses according to income levels. On the other hand, an HR for cold-related illnesses was higher in patients aged 20 to 64 years than in those aged over 65 years. Male with low income had also a higher HR for cold-related illnesses than female with low income. Conclusions Our results showed that heat- or cold-related illnesses were more prevalent in Koreans with low income than those with high income. Strategies for low-income subgroups were needed to reduce greater damage due to the influence of extreme temperature events and to implement effective adaptation. |
topic |
Heat wave Cold spell Climate change Illnesses Thermoregulation |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11227-4 |
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