SynthesisEnvironmental health perspectives2016
Global Association of Cold Spells and Adverse Health Effects: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Environmental health perspectives, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 85 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
85 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The interplay between climate change and ageing: A systematic review of health indicators.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Impact of Short-Term Exposure to Extreme Temperatures on Mortality: A Multi-City Study in Belgium.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Mortality risk attributable to diurnal temperature range: a multicity study in Yunnan of southwest China.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2021Pooled it
- Cold Spells and Cause-Specific Mortality in 47 Japanese Prefectures: A Systematic Evaluation.Environmental health perspectives · 2021Pooled it
- Impacts of exposure to ambient temperature on burden of disease: a systematic review of epidemiological evidence.International journal of biometeorology · 2019Pooled it
- Lack of guidelines for cold exposure among vulnerable outdoor workers.International journal of circumpolar health · 2026Review
- Heat- and Cold-Associated Mortality in Germany, 2000-2023.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2026Observational
- Influence of extreme temperatures on respiratory, circulatory, and nonaccidental mortality risks in northeast China.iScience · 2026Article
- Article
- Heatwaves, Cold Spells, and Renal Disease Mortality in Japan: Vulnerable Populations and Temporal Trends (1979-2019).Environment & health (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Article
- Mortality risk due to non-optimum temperatures by cause of death, age, and sex: a multi-country time-series study.EClinicalMedicine · 2026Article
- Ambient temperature and the variability between neighbouring days impacts in-patient hospitalizations in the United Kingdom.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- A novel framework for expanding temperature intensity-duration-frequency curve utility.Natural hazards (Dordrecht, Netherlands) · 2026Article
- Child Stunting and Temperature Anomalies: A Cross-Sectional Study in Burkina Faso and Kenya.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Metrics of Urbanicity and Rurality in US-Based Epidemiologic Studies of Ambient Temperature and Health: A Scoping Review.Current environmental health reports · 2025Article
- Analyzing cardiovascular disease hospitalization risks due to cold and heat waves in Dezful.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The short-term effects of different cold spell definitions on asthma outpatient visits in Lanzhou, China.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2025Article
- Temperature influences mood: evidence from 11 years of Baidu index data in Chinese provincial capitals.Frontiers in public health · 2025Observational
- Article
- Health perceptions of adverse weather in older adults in England: analysis of 2019/20 survey data.European journal of public health · 2024Article
25 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
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere is substantial evidence that mortality increases in low temperatures. Less is known about the role of prolonged cold periods denoted as cold spells.
objectiveWe conducted the first systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the evidence on the adverse health effects of cold spells in varying climates. DATA SOURCES AND EXTRACTION: Four databases (Ovid Medline, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science) were searched for all years and languages available. "Cold spell" was defined as an event below a temperature threshold lasting for a minimum duration of 2 days. Of 1,527 identified articles, 26 satisfied our eligibility criteria for the systematic review, and 9 were eligible for meta-analyses. The articles were grouped by the three main study questions into Overall-effect Group, Added-effect Group, and Temperature-change-effect Group. DATA SYNTHESIS: Based on random-effects models in the meta-analyses, cold spells were associated with increased mortality from all or all nonaccidental causes (summary rate ratio = 1.10; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.17 based on 9 estimates from five studies), cardiovascular diseases (1.11; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.19; 12 estimates from eight studies), and respiratory diseases (1.21; 95% CI: 0.97, 1.51; 8 estimates from four studies). Estimated associations were stronger for people ≥ 65 years of age (1.06; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.12) than for people 0-64 years of age (1.01; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.03). Study-specific effect estimates from a limited number of studies suggested an increased morbidity related to cold spells, but it was not possible to quantitatively summarize the evidence.
conclusionsCold spells are associated with increased mortality rates in populations around the world. The body of evidence suggests that cold spells also have other adverse health effects. There was substantial heterogeneity among the studies, which should be taken into account in the interpretation of the results. CITATION: Ryti NR, Guo Y, Jaakkola JJ. 2016. Global association of cold spells and adverse health effects: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Environ Health Perspect 124:12-22; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1408104.
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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.