NZ catches death of cold - study
NZ catches death of cold - study
By KIM THOMAS - The Press
Sixteen hundred more New Zealanders die every winter than during other seasons, with researchers pinning part of the blame on cold, damp and poorly maintained homes. Otago University researchers analysed deaths over a 20-year period and found 1600 more people died during the four winter months. The study has been published in the BMC Public Health journal.
The bulk of the deaths were people with circulatory, respiratory illnesses and infectious diseases. Infants and elderly people accounted for many of those who died during winter, and almost 10 per cent more women died in winter than men, the study found.
Otago University researcher Michael Baker said the study was the first to assess how many additional people died in winter.
"Excess winter mortality (the term for the phenomenon where more people die in winter) is a huge problem. It accounts for four times the number of people who die in the road toll," he said. "One of the problems, though, is that it's not immediately clear all the reasons for it." Baker said he was now doing research to understand what impact insulating a house had on death rates during winter.
New Zealand's rates of excess winter mortality were among the highest in the developed nations that measured it, he said.
A hard-hitting study by the Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Morgan Williams, published in 2006 showed more than one million people were living in cold, damp New Zealand homes below the minimum temperature of 18deg recommended by the World Health Organisation. At 16deg, the risk of respiratory illness increases. Below 12deg, there was a higher risk of strokes and heart attacks, the study said.
Christchurch Hospital social worker Anne Crawford said that every winter she and her colleagues dealt with a deluge of respiratory patients struggling to keep their homes warm.
The patients knew the cold and damp was making their condition worse but were unable to afford the power necessary to keep uninsulated homes adequately heated, she said. "It just seems to be getting worse every year."
Otago University researcher and healthy-housing expert, Philippa Howden-Chapman, said New Zealand homes were cold by international standards.
The large number of large, wooden houses was one of the reasons, she said. New Zealanders deferred maintenance more than in other developed nations.
"Now, with massive increases in property values and in petrol, food and power prices, people are even less likely to pay to maintain or insulate their properties," she said.
"The indoor environment has a huge impact on people's health whether they get sick and whether they stay sick."
A tradition of heating only one room meant New Zealanders frequently moved from the warm environment of their living-room to colder rooms, which could affect their health, Howden-Chapman said.
Christchurch Hospital respiratory physician Michael Epton said there was growing scientific evidence that people's houses affected their respiratory conditions.
What was not clear was whether targeted intervention, such as insulating homes, cut hospital admissions for respiratory conditions.
This work needed to be done, Epton said. Canterbury Community Energy Action chief executive Bede Martin said the group was focusing on providing insulation in homes of elderly people and children.