Admission to hospital for effects of heat and light: NSW, 1993–94 to 2003–04

Paul J. Beggs; Pavla Vaneckova

doi:10.1071/NB07004

RESEARCH ARTICLE

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Admission to hospital for effects of heat and light: NSW, 1993–94 to 2003–04

Paul J. Beggs ^A ^B and Pavla Vaneckova ^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Department of Physical Geography, Macquarie University

^B Corresponding author. Email: paul.beggs@mq.edu.au

NSW Public Health Bulletin 19(8) 132-137 https://doi.org/10.1071/NB07004
Published: 20 October 2008

Abstract

The study examined the hospital admission rates and characteristics of patients experiencing severe heat-related morbidity in NSW using data from the NSW Health Inpatient Statistics Collection. The study covered the 11-year period from July 1993 to June 2004. ICD-10-AM. codes examined included T67 (effects of heat and light). There was an average of 91 admissions for each year due to a principal diagnosis of the effects of heat and light, with consistently more males than females admitted (1.7 : 1). Many of the admissions (39%) were of people 65 years of age or older. Most admissions (49%) occurred in the summer months of December and January.

Acknowledgments

The assistance of Frank Siciliano is gratefully acknowledged. We thank John Agland (Manager, Information Analysis and Dissemination Unit, NSW Department of Health) for assistance with access to the ISC. The study was funded by the Macquarie University Research Development Grant Scheme.

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