ReviewEnvironmental health perspectives2012
Ambient temperature and morbidity: a review of epidemiological evidence.
Review in Environmental health perspectives, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 264 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
264 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 646 citations in OpenAlex.
- Hourly level analysis of the effects of temperature extremes on emergency ambulance calls.Journal of global health · 2025Pooled it
- The effect of high temperatures on risk of hospitalization in northern Vietnam.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2022Pooled it
- Comparative analysis of daily and hourly temperature variability in association with all-cause and cardiorespiratory mortality in 45 US cities.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2022Pooled it
- Temporal changes in associations between high temperature and hospitalizations by greenspace: Analysis in the Medicare population in 40 U.S. northeast counties.Environment international · 2021Pooled it
- The Mortality Effect of Apparent Temperature: A Multi-City Study in Asia.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Impacts of exposure to ambient temperature on burden of disease: a systematic review of epidemiological evidence.International journal of biometeorology · 2019Pooled it
- Association between Weather Types based on the Spatial Synoptic Classification and All-Cause Mortality in Sweden, 1991⁻2014.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Pooled it
- Short-term effects of air quality and thermal stress on non-accidental morbidity-a multivariate meta-analysis comparing indices to single measures.International journal of biometeorology · 2018Pooled it
- Changes in Susceptibility to Heat During the Summer: A Multicountry Analysis.American journal of epidemiology · 2016Pooled it
- Evaluation of the Impacts of a Phone Warning and Advising System for Individuals Vulnerable to Smog. Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial Study in Canada.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Trial
- Trial
- Black carbon as a major contributor to ambient PMEco-Environment & Health · 2026Article
- Association between ambient temperature and the risk of hospital admission for injury in South Korea.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2026Article
- Article
- KlimaNot-Effects of Climate Change on Emergency and Acute Care: Protocol for a Multicenter, Registry-Based Observational Cohort Study.JMIR research protocols · 2026Observational
- Effect of Co-Exposure to Temperature and Fine Particulate Matter on Metabolomic and Immune Processes among Chinese Women of Childbearing Age.Environment & health (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Article
- Construction and validation of interpersonal violence in terms of the hot weather scale for university students.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Associations Between Acute Heat Exposure and Hospitalization for Takotsubo Syndrome in the State of California, 2006 to 2019.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2026Article
- Article
- Validity and responsiveness of the EQ-5D-5L, EQ-HWB and EQ-HWB-9 to measure health and wellbeing impact of heatwaves among older adults.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2026Article
204 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveIn this paper, we review the epidemiological evidence on the relationship between ambient temperature and morbidity. We assessed the methodological issues in previous studies and proposed future research directions. DATA SOURCES AND DATA EXTRACTION: We searched the PubMed database for epidemiological studies on ambient temperature and morbidity of noncommunicable diseases published in refereed English journals before 30 June 2010. Forty relevant studies were identified. Of these, 24 examined the relationship between ambient temperature and morbidity, 15 investigated the short-term effects of heat wave on morbidity, and 1 assessed both temperature and heat wave effects. DATA SYNTHESIS: Descriptive and time-series studies were the two main research designs used to investigate the temperature-morbidity relationship. Measurements of temperature exposure and health outcomes used in these studies differed widely. The majority of studies reported a significant relationship between ambient temperature and total or cause-specific morbidities. However, there were some inconsistencies in the direction and magnitude of nonlinear lag effects. The lag effect of hot temperature on morbidity was shorter (several days) compared with that of cold temperature (up to a few weeks). The temperature-morbidity relationship may be confounded or modified by sociodemographic factors and air pollution.
conclusionsThere is a significant short-term effect of ambient temperature on total and cause-specific morbidities. However, further research is needed to determine an appropriate temperature measure, consider a diverse range of morbidities, and to use consistent methodology to make different studies more comparable.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.