Warmer Temperatures Linked to Increased Hospital Visits for Alcohol and Drug Abuse in New York

Rising outdoor temperatures may influence hospital visits for alcohol and other drugs, according to a study published in Communications Medicine.

“The aim of this study was to evaluate (a) how daily temperature was associated with hospital visits due to alcohol- or substance-related disorders (including alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, opioids and sedatives), and (b) how this association varied by location, age group, sex, and social vulnerability, using daily ZIP Code-level hospital visit data obtained from hospitals in New York State, the fourth largest state by population in the United State,” wrote corresponding author Robbie Parks, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, The Earth Institute, Columbia University, and coauthors.

Hospital records were obtained across New York State from 1995 to 2014 from the New York Department of Health Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS). During the study period, there were 717,798 total hospital visit records in New York State for alcohol-related disorders and 794,305 for substance-related disorders. An increase in temperature from the lowest point (-30.1°C or -22.2°F) to the 75th percentile (18.8°C or 65.8°F) over 0 to 6 days was found to be associated with a cumulative increase of 24.6% (95% CI, 14.6% - 34.6%) in hospital visits due to alcohol-related disorders. Similarly, an increase from the average to the 90th percentile (22.7°C or 72.9°F) was associated with a cumulative increase of 25.6% (95%CI, 15.4% - 35.7%) in hospital visits. The data suggests that there is a positive association between temperature and alcohol-related disorders in hospital visits across most of the temperature range. No differences in increases in hospital visit rates at warmer temperatures outside New York City compared with New York City were found.

A link between substance-related disorders and rising temperatures, ranging from -30.1°C (-22.2°F) to 18.8°C (65.8°F), with a 38.8% increase (95%CI, 28.7% - 48.8%) was also discovered. A positive correlation between temperature and hospital visits for substance-related disorders was observed, almost linear below the mean temperature. There was no evidence of an additional increase beyond the 90th percentile (22.7°C (72.9°F), with an increase of 39.0% (28.8%-49.2%) from the period minimum. A larger increase in hospital visit rates at warmer temperatures outside New York City compared with New York City was observed.

“In [New York State] from 1995 to 2014, an increase in temperature 0–6 days before hospital visits was associated with higher hospital visit rates for both alcohol- and substance-related disorders up to a threshold, above which no increases were discernible,” concluded the study authors.

Reference

Parks RM, Rowland ST, Do V, et al. The association between temperature and alcohol- and substance-related disorder hospital visits in New York State. Commun Med (Lond). 2023;3(1):118. doi:10.1038/s43856-023-00346-1