Risk of Heat-Related Mortality, Disease, Accident, and Injury Among Korean Workers: A National Representative Study From 2002 to 2015

Abstract

Many studies have shown that heat waves can cause both death and disease. Considering the adverse health effects of heat waves on vulnerable groups, this study highlights their impact on workers. The present study thus investigated the association between heat exposure and the likelihood of hospitalization and death, and further identified the risk of heat-related diseases or death according to types of heat and dose-response modeling with heat threshold. Workers were selected from the Korean National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort 2002-2015, and regional data measured by the Korea Meteorological Administration were used for weather information. The relationship between hospitalization attributable to disease and weather variables was analyzed by applying a generalized additional model. Using the Akaike information criterion, we selected a model that presented the optimal threshold. Maximum daily temperature (MaxT) was associated with an increased risk of death and outdoor mortality. The association between death outdoors and MaxT had a threshold of 31.2 degrees C with a day zero lag effect. History of medical facility visits due to the health effects of heat waves was evident in certain infectious and parasitic diseases (A and B), cardio and cerebrovascular diseases (120-25 and 160-69), injury, poisoning, and other consequences of external causes (S, T). The study demonstrated that heat exposure is a risk factor for death and infectious, cardio-cerebrovascular, and genitourinary diseases, as well as injuries or accidents among workers. The finding that heat exposure affects workers' health has future implications for decision makers and researchers. Plain Language Summary Exposure to heat can cause diseases and even death. Avoiding heat is one of the best ways to prevent the adverse health effects of heat. Some groups have difficulty avoiding heat. That is the worker. They find it difficult to choose a place and time to work in their duties. In this study, the health effects of heat exposure were investigated among workers. The medical facility visit history, death status, and risk were estimated according to the ambient temperature characteristics. The analysis showed that the daily maximum temperature was strongly associated with the death of workers. This association was statistically significant from the highest temperature of 31.2 degrees C. Additionally, outdoor deaths among workers were also closely related to the daily maximum temperature. It was reported that exposure to heat was closely linked to the status of visits to hospitals among workers. There was a significantly increased risk of medical facility visits due to infectious diseases, cardiac and cerebrovascular diseases, injuries and accidents related heat exposure among workers. In this study, we found that heat exposure is closely related to various diseases and death in workers. We hope that the findings of the study can be applied to protect workers' health and safety.