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Abstract
During the summer of 1999, Chicago's second deadliest heat wave of the decade resulted
in at least 80 deaths. The high mortality, exceeded only by a 1995 heat wave, provided
the opportunity to investigate the risks associated with heat-related deaths and to
examine the effectiveness of targeted heat-relieving interventions.
We conducted a case-control study to determine risk factors for heat-related death.
We collected demographic, health, and behavior information for 63 case patients and
77 neighborhood-and-age-matched control subjects and generated odds ratios (ORs) for
each potential risk factor.
Fifty-three percent of the case patients were aged <65 years, and psychiatric illness
was almost twice as common in the younger than the older age group. In the multivariate
analysis, the strongest risk factors for heat-related death were living alone (OR=8.1;
95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4-48.1) and not leaving home daily (OR=5.8; 95% CI,
1.5-22.0). The strongest protective factor was a working air conditioner (OR=0.2;
95% CI, 0.1-0.7). Over half (53%) of the 80 decedents were seen or spoken to on the
day of or day before their deaths.
A working air conditioner is the strongest protective factor against heat-related
death. The relatively younger age of case patients in 1999 may be due to post-1995
interventions that focused on the elderly of Chicago. However, social isolation and
advanced age remain important risk factors. Individual social contacts and educational
messages targeted toward at-risk populations during heat waves may decrease the number
of deaths in these groups.