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Winter is not a good time to get ill in New Zealand, particularly if
you are very young or old according to a recent study by the University
of Otago. Public health researchers have found that 1600 more people
die over the winter months than summer, which puts this country at the
upper end of the international scale for excess winter mortality (EWM).
The study analysed monthly mortality rates per 100 000 people
between 1980 and 2000. It found that winter rates are 18 per cent higher than
in summer and that 9 per cent more females die in winter than males. One
alarming finding was that EWM has not declined at all over the last 20
years. This is during a period when most other health indicators have
improved.
Associate Professor Michael Baker from the University of Otago, Wellington
says that this EWM is 2 per cent higher than the mean mortality rates for 14
European countries, many of which have colder winter temperatures than
New Zealand.
"One theory is that countries like Canada, Norway and Russia have
such cold winters that people have developed better insulated houses
and other strategies to survive winter. More temperate countries like
New Zealand, Ireland and Portugal have a higher EWM because we are less
well adapted to cold conditions."
Dr Baker says the key now is to try to determine what causes the
high winter death rate in this country and to try to reduce the figure
by social and health interventions.
"The Housing and Health Research Programme has carried out large
community trials showing that insulating houses results in reduced
illness rates. The programme has also shown that improved heating
reduces asthma attacks. This research needs to be extended to other
aspects of housing improvements to see if such interventions can start
to reduce this large burden of EWM."
Dr Baker says that the study showed that people are more likely to
die in winter from respiratory diseases (66 per cent higher) such as pneumonia
and bronchitis, and circulatory diseases (24 per cent higher) such as heart
attacks or stroke. He says if people have circulatory problems and
serious respiratory diseases, cold winter conditions are likely to make
these conditions worse. It is particularly important that we take good
care of our elderly family members and friends and make sure they are
not spending their winter months living in cold, damp housing.
To find ways of reducing the current high mortality rates will
necessitate more detailed research to determine those pathways which
lead to winter illness and higher death rates. This research needs to
further investigate the role of possible determinants, including
climate, influenza, behaviour, crowding, home heating and the thermal
performance of houses.
The 'Trends and determinants of excess winter mortality' study is
the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere and dovetails with
other ground- breaking studies into health and housing being carried
out by the Department of Public Health under Professor Philippa
Howden-Chapman and colleagues.
This study was published in BMC Public Health and funded by a University of Otago research grant.
Editor's Note:
Original news release can be found here.
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