A major new analysis of\u00a0around\u00a0720,000 hospital presentations of people aged 0\u201324 in NSW has found that\u00a0hotter\u00a0than\u00a0normal\u00a0winter days are linked to a significant rise in acute\u00a0mental\u00a0health\u00a0disorders, with further scenario modelling suggesting a significant rise in heat-attributable admissions by the end of this\u00a0century\u00a0if\u00a0greenhouse gas\u00a0emissions are not reduced.<\/p>\n
Published in\u00a0the\u00a0Journal of\u00a0the\u00a0American Academy\u00a0of\u00a0Child\u00a0&\u00a0Adolescent Psychiatry,\u00a0the study\u00a0showed that increased risk was\u00a0observed\u00a0in both cold and warm seasons, but\u00a0high temperatures\u00a0in winter were associated with increased hospital admissions for\u00a0mental\u00a0health\u00a0disorders among children and young adults, with\u00a0rises in\u00a0presentations for\u00a0schizophrenia, eating disorders, and deliberate self-harm\u00a0only\u00a0observed\u00a0in cold seasons. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Overall, heat accounted for over\u00a0eight\u00a0percent of admissions in cold seasons and almost\u00a0three\u00a0percent in warmer seasons.\u00a0The risks during cold seasons were more pronounced for female patients and young adults.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is\u00a0a somewhat unexpected\u00a0finding. Conventional wisdom would suggest the greatest impacts would be in\u00a0summer, when\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0the hottest.\u00a0Instead, it was\u00a0hot winter weather that\u00a0was associated with\u00a0the\u00a0highest\u00a0risks\u00a0of\u00a0presentations,\u201d said\u00a0lead\u00a0author\u00a0Dr Wen-Qiang He<\/a>, an epidemiologist from the University of Sydney\u2019s\u00a0Faculty of Medicine and Health<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Charles Perkins Centre<\/a>.<\/p>\n Using\u00a0hospital presentation data, the study\u00a0also\u00a0conducted scenario modelling, predicting\u00a0that by the last decade of this\u00a0century, heat-attributable admissions\u00a0could\u00a0rise by\u00a0six\u00a0percent under\u00a0low emission<\/a>\u00a0scenarios,\u00a0almost\u00a0eight\u00a0percent\u00a0under medium emission scenarios,\u00a0and\u00a0almost 21 percent\u00a0under\u00a0high emissions.<\/p>\n The findings come just\u00a0as Australia experiences a hotter-than-normal\u00a0lead up to winter, with\u00a0many parts of Australia\u00a0recording early winter maximums<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Sydney recording the hottest\u00a0June on record since 1859<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Hotter-than-normal weather, which is becoming more frequent because of climate change, is already affecting the mental health of some of our most vulnerable young people,”\u00a0said Dr He.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Our findings suggest these impacts are likely to grow as the climate continues to warm, making mental health an increasingly important consideration in climate adaptation and public health planning.”<\/p>\n While\u00a0the researchers\u00a0didn’t\u00a0examine the biological mechanisms directly,\u00a0they said\u00a0there could be several plausible explanations.<\/p>\n