[Study on the Health Effects of Climate Change among the Elderly]

Recent studies have reported that extreme temperatures have a greater impact on health in the elderly (aged 65 and over) than in the non-elderly (under age 65). Recent studies have also reported that increases in the use of outpatient visits and emergency department visits among elderly were found to be associated with the increase of air pollutants and ozone exposure. This study analyze the health effects of climate change in elderly by further subdividing the elderly by age compared to previous studies. This study was used to daily mortality data, the aggregate data obtained through Korean Statistical Information Service. As a result of the analysis, high and low temperatures were associated with an increased risk of mortality due to all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. In addition, the increase in non-accidental and cardiovascular mortality due to ozone exposure was observed only in the 80-year-old or older group. In conclusion, this study confirmed that the levels of health impact associated with climate change are not identical for all the age groups of the elderly group, but they are significantly increased for the oldest-old group.