Canada (Commonwealth Union)_ Presently, boiling hot temperatures appear to fuel drug-related hospital visits, a problem which could be worsening with climate change, a new study suggests.
During this period of higher temperatures, there is increase in hospital visits related to alcohol and substance use, which also brings attention to some less obvious potential consequences of climate change, said first study author Robbie Parks. He is an assistant professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, in New York City.
The study revealed that there was an increased trend of heavy episodic drinking and alcohol-related deaths and disease in the United States, especially in middle-aged and older adults. Recently, it was found that drug overdose deaths have increased by more than five times in the past two decades.
For this study, the investigators looked at the connection between temperature and hospital visits related to alcohol and other drugs, including sedatives, opioids, cocaine and cannabis. They used data from more than 670,000 alcohol- and more than 720,000 substance-related disorder hospital visits over 20 years in New York. They also included a complete record of daily temperatures and relative humidity, and used a statistical model which compared days with high temperatures with nearby days with lesser temperatures.
The higher the temperatures, the more hospital visits for alcohol-related disorders happened. This may possibly be driven by more time outdoors performing riskier activities, greater perspiration causing dehydration or driving while under the influence.
Higher temperatures also caused more hospital visits for cannabis, cocaine, opioids and sedatives, but only up to a limit of 65.8 degrees Fahrenheit. This cap could be because above certain temperature individuals are not more likely to go outside, the study authors suggested.
The study may actually underestimate the connection between rising temperature and substance use disorders, the authors noted, since most severe disorders may have resulted in deaths before a hospital visit could happen.
These researchers would like to connect cases of deaths with hospital visit records to create a complete picture of patients’ medical history.
Future research could include examining the role of existing health conditions which was aggravated by alcohol or substance use and joined with rising temperatures.
Interventions could include awareness campaigns about the dangers of warming temperatures on substance use. Public policy could include by providing more support to communities vulnerable to substance use during this warm weather.
According to a school news release, senior study author Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou, professor of environmental health science, said that public health interventions which generally target alcohol and substance disorders in warmer weather, for example, targeted messaging on the risks of their consumption during warmer weather, should be a public health priority.
