Cent Eur J Public Health 2017, 25(4):293-298 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a4469

Symptomatic response of the elderly with cardiovascular disease during a heat wave in Slovenia

Rok Fink1, Ivan Eržen2, Sašo Medved3
1 Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2 Medical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
3 Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Objective: The aim of this study is to analyse the symptomatic response of elderly people to heat burden and indoor air quality exposure, and to create an index, the basis on which healthcare workers could react and prevent heat-related illnesses when the first symptoms appear.

Methods: The impact of the indoor thermal environment was studied with regards to Humidex and indoor air quality by CO2 concentrations on elderly people's symptomatic response. It was a natural experiment in which two different groups of elderly people (> 65 years) were observed: the first group had a diagnosed cardiovascular disease, and the second group did not have the disease.

Results: The results show that the expression and aggravation of symptoms are related to an increase of heat burden and low indoor air quality. The symptoms under analysis do not have the same frequency distribution of intensity and, therefore, cannot be interpreted as a single universal symptom index. Instead, two indices must be created separately for both general and specific symptoms.

Conclusions: Healthcare workers should be educated about the interactive influences of the thermal environment and the air quality on health. Unsuitable conditions could be ascertained by the nursing home occupants' symptomatic response.

Keywords: heat burden, air quality, cardiovascular disease, symptoms, elderly

Received: June 20, 2015; Revised: September 14, 2017; Published: December 30, 2017  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Fink R, Eržen I, Medved S. Symptomatic response of the elderly with cardiovascular disease during a heat wave in Slovenia. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2017;25(4):293-298. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a4469. PubMed PMID: 29346852.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Filip S, Fink R, Hribar J, Vidrih R. Trans fatty acids in food and their influence on human health. Food Technol Biotechnol. 2010;48(2):135-42.
    2. Ellison D, White D, Farrar FC. Aging population. Nurs Clin North Am. 2015 Mar;50(1):185-213. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    3. Haines A, Kovats RS, Campbell-Lendrum D, Corvalan C. Climate change and human health: impacts, vulnerability, and mitigation. Lancet. 2006 Jun 24;367(9528):2101-9. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    4. Işsever H, Dişçi R, Hapcioglu B, Vatansever S, Karan MA, Akkaya V, et al. The effect of air pollution and meteorological parameters in Istanbul on hospital admissions for acute coronary syndrome. Indoor Built Environ. 2005;14(2):157-64. Go to original source...
    5. Gaffin SL. Hyperthermia-induced cardiac arrest. Aviat Space Environ Med. 1998 Jan;69(1):88.
    6. Havenith G. Temperature regulation, heat balance and climatic stress. In: Kirch W, Bertollini R, Menne B, editors. Extreme weather events and public health responses. Springer; 2005. p. 69-80. Go to original source...
    7. Naughton MP, Henderson A, Mirabelli MC, Kaiser R, Wilhelm JL, Kieszak SM, et al. Heat-related mortality during a 1999 heat wave in Chicago. Am J Prev Med. 2002 May;22(4):221-7. Go to original source...
    8. Hoffmann B, Hertel S, Boes T, Weiland D, Jöckel KH. Increased cause-specific mortality associated with 2003 heat wave in Essen, Germany. J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2008;71(11-12):759-65. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    9. Rey G, Jougla E, Fouillet A, Pavillon G, Bessemoulin P, Frayssinet P, et al. The impact of major heat waves on all-cause and cause-specific mortality in France from 1971 to 2003. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2007 Jul;80(7):615-26. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    10. Rozzini R, Zanetti E, Trabucchi M. Elevated temperature and nursing home mortality during 2003 European heat wave. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2004 Mar-Apr;5(2):138-9. Go to original source...
    11. Donoghue AM, Sinclair MJ, Bates GP. Heat exhaustion in a deep underground metalliferous mine. Occup Environ Med. 2000 Mar;57(3):165-74. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    12. Gosling SN, Lowe JA, McGregor GR, Pelling M, Malamud BD. Associations between elevated atmospheric temperature and human mortality: a critical review of the literature. Climatic Change. 2009;92(3-4):299-341. Go to original source...
    13. Fink R, Eržen I, Medved S, Kastelec D. Experimental research on physiological response of elderly with cardiovascular disease during heat wave period. Indoor Built Environ. 2015;24(4):534-43. Go to original source...
    14. Masterton JM, Richardson FA. Humidex: a method of quantifying human discomfort due to excessive heat and humidity. Downsview: Environment Canada, Atmospheric Environment; 1979.
    15. Olesen BW. International standards for the indoor environment. Indoor Air. 2004;14(Suppl 7):18-26. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    16. Koiv TA, Voll H, Mikola A, Lukjanov D. The indoor climate and ventilation of Elderly homes. In: Gavriluta N, Raducanu R, Iliescu M, Costin H, Mastorakis N, Olej V, et al., editors. Recent researches in environment, energy planning and pollution: Proceedings of the 5th WSEAS International Conference on Renewable Energy Sources (RES'11), Proceedings of the 5th WSEAS International Conference on Energy Planning, Energy Saving, Environmental Education (EPESE'11), Proceedings of the 5th WSEAS International Conference on Waste Management, Water Pollution, Air Pollution, Indoor Climate (WWAI'11); 2011 Jul 1-3; Iasi, Romania. WSEAS Press; 2011. p. 229-32.
    17. BS EN 13779:2004. Ventilation for non-residential buildings. Performance requirements for ventilation and room-conditioning systems. London: BSI; 2005.
    18. Ordónez C, Mathis H, Furger M, Henne S, Hüglin C, Staehelin J, et al. Changes of daily surface ozone maxima in Switzerland in all seasons from 1992 to 2002 and discussion of summer 2003. Atm Chem Phy. 2005;5(5):1187-203. Go to original source...
    19. Rainham DG, Smoyer-Tomic KE. The role of air pollution in the relationship between a heat stress index and human mortality in Toronto. Environ Res. 2003 Sep;93(1):9-19. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    20. Fisk WJ, Mirer AG, Mendell MJ. Quantitative relationship of sick building syndrome symptoms with ventilation rates. Indoor Air. 2009 Apr;19(2):159-65. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    21. Wargocki P, Carrer P, De Oliveira Fernandes E, Hänninen O, Kephalopoulos S. Guidelines for health-based ventilation in Europe. In: Indoor Air 2014: 13th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate 2014; 2014 Jul 7-12; Hong Kong. Santa Cruz: ISIAQ; 2014. p. 1067-9.
    22. Brown T, Holmes P, Harrison PTC. Review: the applicability of epidemiological methods to the assessment of the risks to human health of indoor air pollution: an overview. Indoor Built Environ. 2010;19(3):311-26. Go to original source...
    23. Norbäck D, Björnsson E, Janson C, Widström J, Boman G. Asthmatic symptoms and volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde, and carbon dioxide in dwellings. Occup Environ Med. 1995 Jun;52(6):388-95. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    24. Apte MG, Fisk WJ, Daisey JM. Associations between indoor CO2 concentrations and sick building syndrome symptoms in U. S. Office buildings: an analysis of the 1994-1996 BASE study data. Indoor Air J. 2000;10(4):246-557. Go to PubMed...
    25. Conti S, Meli P, Minelli G, Solimini R, Toccaceli V, Vichi M, et al. Epidemiologic study of mortality during the Summer 2003 heat wave in Italy. Environ Res. 2005 Jul;98(3):390-9. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    26. Inaba R, Mirbod SM. Comparison of subjective symptoms and hot prevention measures in summer between traffic control workers and construction workers in Japan. Ind Health. 2007 Jan;45(1):91-9. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    27. Coris EE, Walz SM, Duncanson R, Ramirez AM, Roetzheim RG. Heat illness symptom index (HISI): a novel instrument for the assessment of heat illness in athletes. South Med J. 2006 Apr;99(4):340-5. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...

    Return to the content