The study, conducted across The Alfred and Sandringham emergency departments (ED), found 217 people presented to ED with hypothermia between 2009 and 2016. Of those, 11 per cent died.
The research paper, published in Internal Medicine Journal, raises the issue of fuel poverty, topical given rising energy bills.
However, factors other than just the winter cold were involved, Dr Ananda-Rajah said. The majority of cases (72 per cent) occurred during the colder months (late autumn to early spring) but notably 12 per cent occurred during summer.
Certain medications as well as older age can affect the ability of the body to raise its own temperature. Elderly patients who had heart failure, cancer, chronic kidney disease and sepsis infection were especially likely to die in hospital.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/imj.14308 br / |
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Study: Older people are developing hypothermia in their own homes...
Posted - 06/19/2019 : 11:09:24
