Heat and Health - Statistics: Thousands have to go to the hospital due to heat
Due to heat and strong sun radiation, an average of nearly 1,500 people have been treated in hospitals between the years 2002 and 2022. "Extreme heat is also a problem for the health of the population here," the Statistical Office in Wiesbaden stated today. In the same period, the number of deaths directly caused by heat was on average 20 per year.
However, extremely high temperatures cause overall mortality to increase, as they often have an indirect effect and increase the risk of death in combination with preexisting conditions.
Extreme Heat a Problem for Health
The number of heat-related hospital treatments was often higher in years with many heat days, according to the Federal Office. According to the definition of the German Weather Service, a heat day is when temperatures reach 30 degrees Celsius or more.
For example, statisticians cited the year 2015, which had a comparable number of heat days with an average of 17.6. In that year, the number of heat-related hospital treatments, for instance, was 2,322 cases, which was 59% above the average of the years 2002 to 2022. In the same year, there were 60 deaths attributable to heat or sunlight – three times as many as the average of the years 2002 to 2022.
Number of Treatments in Years with Many Heat Days Often Higher
The statisticians recorded the most hospital treatments (2,600) and a comparatively large number of deaths (41) due to heat or sunlight in the year 2003. That year also had a relatively high average of 19.0 heat days.
In their survey, the Federal Office refers to data from hospital statistics, statistics on causes of death, and data from the German Weather Service.
The Statistical Federal Office in Wiesbaden, Germany, gathered data showing an average of 20 heat-related deaths annually between 2002 and 2022. The German Weather Service defines a heat day as having temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius or more, and these days often lead to higher numbers of heat-related hospital treatments and deaths. In the extreme case of 2003, the Statistical Federal Office reported 2,600 heat-related hospital treatments and 41 deaths, which were notably higher than the averages due to the year's 19.0 heat days. #ExtremeHeatHealthImpacts #DWDStats #GermanyHeatWave
