Poverty key factor in heat domes deaths in B.C.: study
Study of deadly diseases in British Columbia heating dome In 2021, researchers reported that the risk factor most strongly associated with dying during those sweltering days was whether or not a person received income support.
The paper, written by researchers at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control and published in Environment Research: Healthcompared those who died with similar people who survived, focusing on health conditions and socioeconomic status.
A 2022 BC coroner’s report said 619 deaths were attributed to the heat event, and the latest research indicates the prevalence of low income was 2.4 times higher among those who died than among those who survived.
Temperatures soared for several days across much of British Columbia in late June 2021, reaching temperatures above 40 degrees in some areas, while overnight temperatures remained unusually high.
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The study calls the 2021 heat dome “one of the deadliest weather events in Canadian history.”
The researchers found that the health conditions most strongly associated with death during the heat dome were schizophrenia, COPD, Parkinson’s disease, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, ischemic stroke and substance use disorders.
“Susceptibility to extreme heat is not determined by a single factor, but rather depends on the confluence of overlapping factors,” says the study published this week.
“For example, higher social vulnerability is associated with several risk factors for mortality (related to extreme heat events), including higher prevalence of chronic diseases, poorer general health, less access to air conditioning, and features of the built environment that promote higher local temperatures, such as less green space and more paved surfaces.”
A report commissioned by the province’s chief coroner found that most of those who died were elderly people whose health was compromised by multiple chronic illnesses and who lived alone.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
