IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v21y2024i9p1248-d1482265.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Thermal Comfort Conditions and Mortality in Brazil

Author

Listed:
  • Weeberb J. Requia

    (Center for Environment and Public Health Studies, School of Public Policy and Government, Fundação Getulio Vargas, Brasilia 72125590, Brazil)

  • Reizane Maria Damasceno da Silva

    (Center for Environment and Public Health Studies, School of Public Policy and Government, Fundação Getulio Vargas, Brasilia 72125590, Brazil)

  • Leonardo Hoinaski

    (Sanitary and Enviromental Engineering Department, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis 88040600, Brazil)

  • Heresh Amini

    (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA)

Abstract

Conventional temperature-based approaches often overlook the intricate nature of thermal stress experienced by individuals. To address this limitation, climatologists have developed thermal indices—composite measures designed to reflect the complex interaction of meteorological factors influencing human perception of temperature. Our study focuses on Brazil, estimating the association between thermal comfort conditions and mortality related to respiratory and circulatory diseases. We examined four distinct thermal indices: the discomfort index (DI), net effective temperature (NET), humidex (H), and heat index (HI). Analyzing a comprehensive dataset of 2,872,084 deaths from 2003 to 2017, we found significant variation in relative risk (RR) based on health outcomes, exposure lag, percentile of exposure, sex/age groups, and specific thermal indices. For example, under high exposure conditions (99th percentile), we observed that the shorter lags (3, 5, 7, and 10) had the most robust effects on all-cause mortality. For example, under lag 3, the pooled national results for the overall population (all ages and sexes) indicate an increased risk of all-cause mortality, with an RR of 1.17 (95% CI: 1.13; 1.122) for DI, 1.15 (95% CI: 1.12; 1.17) for H, 1.15 (95% CI: 1.09; 1.21) for HI, and 1.18 (95% CI: 1.13; 1.22) for NET. At low exposure levels (1st percentile), all four distinct thermal indices were linked to an increase in all-cause mortality across most sex and age subgroups. Specifically, for lag 20, we observed an estimated RR of 1.19 (95% CI: 1.14; 1.23) for DI, 1.12 (95% CI: 1.08; 1.16) for H, 1.17 (95% CI: 1.12; 1.22) for HI, and 1.18 (95% CI: 1.14; 1.23) for NET. These findings have important implications for policymakers, guiding the development of measures to minimize climate change’s impact on public health in Brazil.

Suggested Citation

  • Weeberb J. Requia & Reizane Maria Damasceno da Silva & Leonardo Hoinaski & Heresh Amini, 2024. "Thermal Comfort Conditions and Mortality in Brazil," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(9), pages 1-19, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:9:p:1248-:d:1482265
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/9/1248/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/9/1248/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aleš Urban & Jan Kyselý, 2014. "Comparison of UTCI with Other Thermal Indices in the Assessment of Heat and Cold Effects on Cardiovascular Mortality in the Czech Republic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-16, January.
    2. Jixia Huang & Jinfeng Wang & Weiwei Yu, 2014. "The Lag Effects and Vulnerabilities of Temperature Effects on Cardiovascular Disease Mortality in a Subtropical Climate Zone in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-13, April.
    3. A. M. Vicedo-Cabrera & N. Scovronick & F. Sera & D. Royé & R. Schneider & A. Tobias & C. Astrom & Y. Guo & Y. Honda & D. M. Hondula & R. Abrutzky & S. Tong & M. de Sousa Zanotti Stagliorio Coelho & P., 2021. "The burden of heat-related mortality attributable to recent human-induced climate change," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 11(6), pages 492-500, June.
    4. Won-Sang Jung & Sung-Woo Kim & Hun-Young Park & Jisu Kim & Kiwon Lim, 2021. "Effects of Acute Exposure to Thermal Stress on Cardiorespiratory Function, Skeletal Muscle Oxygenation, and Exercise Performance in Healthy Males," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-12, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Catarina Midões & Enrica De Cian, 2025. "Heat and well-being in the Old Continent," Working Papers 2025: 03, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    2. Wan Ting Katty Huang & Pierre Masselot & Elie Bou-Zeid & Simone Fatichi & Athanasios Paschalis & Ting Sun & Antonio Gasparrini & Gabriele Manoli, 2023. "Economic valuation of temperature-related mortality attributed to urban heat islands in European cities," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Alberto Ponso & Angelo Bonfitto & Giovanni Belingardi, 2023. "Route Planning for Electric Vehicles Including Driving Style, HVAC, Payload and Battery Health," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-22, June.
    4. Marcantonio, Richard, 2024. "Environmental violence and enterprise: The outsized role of business for environmental peacebuilding," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 67(6), pages 685-698.
    5. Bo Yeon Kwon & Eunil Lee & Suji Lee & Seulkee Heo & Kyunghee Jo & Jinsun Kim & Man Sik Park, 2015. "Vulnerabilities to Temperature Effects on Acute Myocardial Infarction Hospital Admissions in South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-18, November.
    6. Marcantonio, Richard A., 2022. "Toxic diplomacy through environmental management: A necessary next step for environmental peacebuilding," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).
    7. Aleš Urban & Hana Hanzlíková & Jan Kyselý & Eva Plavcová, 2017. "Impacts of the 2015 Heat Waves on Mortality in the Czech Republic—A Comparison with Previous Heat Waves," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-19, December.
    8. Piringer, Niklas & Vardanega, Gabrielle & Thiede, Brian C., 2022. "Climate Exposures and Household Dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa," SocArXiv nbwf6, Center for Open Science.
    9. Rebecca Newman & Ilan Noy, 2023. "The global costs of extreme weather that are attributable to climate change," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    10. Mubarak Alawadhi & Patrick E. Phelan, 2022. "Review of Residential Air Conditioning Systems Operating under High Ambient Temperatures," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-46, April.
    11. Zhiyi Tao & Xiangdong Zhu & Guoqiang Xu & Dezhi Zou & Guo Li, 2023. "A Comparative Analysis of Outdoor Thermal Comfort Indicators Applied in China and Other Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-36, November.
    12. Xihui Gu & Zaiming Jiang & Yansong Guan & Ming Luo & Jianfeng Li & Lunche Wang & Xiang Zhang & Dongdong Kong & Liangyi Wang, 2025. "Frequent land-ocean transboundary migration of tropical heatwaves under climate change," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-13, December.
    13. Alessandro Dosio & Mirco Migliavacca & Douglas Maraun, 2025. "How fast is climate changing? One generation is sufficient for unfamiliar heatwave characteristics to emerge in Europe," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 178(2), pages 1-17, February.
    14. Danlu Xu & Zhoubin Liu & Rui Shan & Haixiao Weng & Haoyu Zhang, 2023. "How a Grid Company Could Enter the Hydrogen Industry through a New Business Model: A Case Study in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-21, March.
    15. Kaixing Huang & Qianqian Hong, 2024. "The impact of global warming on obesity," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(3), pages 1-32, September.
    16. Phoebe Koundouri & Angelos Alamanos & Jeffrey D Sachs, 2024. "Innovating for Sustainability: The Global Climate Hub," DEOS Working Papers 2403, Athens University of Economics and Business.
    17. Xunfeng Yang & Lianfa Li & Jinfeng Wang & Jixia Huang & Shijun Lu, 2015. "Cardiovascular Mortality Associated with Low and High Temperatures: Determinants of Inter-Region Vulnerability in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-16, May.
    18. Elizabeth Humphrys & James Goodman & Freya Newman, 2022. "‘Zonked the hell out’: Climate change and heat stress at work," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 33(2), pages 256-271, June.
    19. Scorgie, F. & Lusambili, A. & Luchters, S. & Khaemba, P. & Filippi, V. & Nakstad, B. & Hess, J. & Birch, C. & Kovats, S. & Chersich, M.F., 2023. "“Mothers get really exhausted!” The lived experience of pregnancy in extreme heat: Qualitative findings from Kilifi, Kenya," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    20. Misun Kang & Kyu Rang Kim & Ju-Young Shin, 2020. "Event-Based Heat-Related Risk Assessment Model for South Korea Using Maximum Perceived Temperature, Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature, and Air Temperature Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-19, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:9:p:1248-:d:1482265. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.