and death outside of the standard definition that is limited to the cold season.
TABLE 3
Acknowledgements: The authors acknowledge the Minnesota Environmental Public Health Tracking Program and Minnesota Climate & Health Program for their assistance with this project. We also acknowledge the support and guidance of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists and the CDC Environmental Public Health Tracking Network Cold-Related Illness Content Work Group. This work was supported in part by an appointment to the Applied Epidemiology Fellowship Program administered by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiolo- gists and funded by CDC Cooperative Agree- ment Number 1NU38OT000297-03-00. This work was also supported by the Minnesota Environmental Public Health Tracking Pro- gram, grant number CDC-RFA-EH17-1702, funded by CDC. The findings and conclu- sions are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of CDC or the Minnesota Department of Health. Corresponding Author: Tess Konen, Senior Epidemiologist, Environmental Health Divi- sion, Minnesota Department of Health, 625 Robert Street North, St. Paul, MN 55155. Email: tess.konen@state.mn.us.
Number and Proportion of Other Health Conditions That Co-occur With Cold-Related Illness or Death in Minnesota
Other Health Conditions
Emergency Department Visits, 2015–2018 # (%)
Hospitalizations, 2015–2018 # (%)
Deaths, 2010–2019 # (%)
Any chronic condition Cardiovascular disease
1,878 (56)
664 (89) 151 (20) 100 (14) 247 (33) 165 (22) 492 (66)
241 (57)
236 (7) 234 (7) 382 (11)
80 (19)
Diabetes
6 (1) 9 (2)
Mental illness
Respiratory disease
273 (8)
35 (8)
Substance use
1,487 (45)
187 (44)
Note. Emergency department visits and hospitalizations are not mutually exclusive. Any chronic condition is defined as having one or more of the following conditions: cardiovascular disease, substance use, mental illness, respiratory disease, or diabetes.
Conclusion Our analysis examined the case definition and assessed the burden of cold-related illness and death in Minnesota. Despite warming winter temperatures due to climate change, cold- related illness and death will continue to be health risks. Additional research and discus- sion are needed to inform decision making about expanding the surveillance window, but
we recommend that jurisdictions explore the case definition in both ways: restricted to the winter season and year-round cases. By assess- ing cold-related illness and death, changes in the distribution can be detected, high-risk groups can be monitored, and prevention ini- tiatives can be developed. This study provides a locally relevant analytic framework for other jurisdictions to evaluate cold-related illness
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