ArticleBMJ open2021
SOS! Summer of Smoke: a retrospective cohort study examining the cardiorespiratory impacts of a severe and prolonged wildfire season in Canada's high subarctic.
Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 3 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
17 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Global systematic review of how climate change degrades the wellbeing and health of Indigenous children.Globalization and health · 2026Pooled it
- Climate change health impacts on children in Canada: a systematic review.BMJ paediatrics open · 2026Pooled it
- Health Impacts of Wildfire Smoke on Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Current environmental health reports · 2024Pooled it
- Multiyear wildfire smoke exposure (MultiWiSE) metrics: a data-driven approach to characterizing episodic PMJournal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2026Article
- Wildfire Smoke and Human Health: A Global Perspective on Respiratory Risks and Emerging Interventions.Environment & health (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Article
- Wildfire smoke and pediatric asthma control in the Northeastern United States: a cross-sectional study.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2025Article
- Exploring the impacts of the 2023 wildfire evacuations in the Northwest Territories: a grey literature review.International journal of circumpolar health · 2025Review
- Climate change and environmental sustainability in emergency medicine: a narrative review.Annals of translational medicine · 2025Review
- Wildfire-Related Air Pollution and Infectious Diseases: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.ACS environmental Au · 2025Review
- Impact of the 2023 wildfire smoke episodes in Ontario, Canada, on asthma and other health outcomes: an interrupted time-series analysis.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2025Article
- Article
- The Impact of Climate Change on Respiratory Care: A Scoping Review.The journal of climate change and health · 2024Article
- Article
- Asthma and landscape fire smoke: A Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand position statement.Respirology (Carlton, Vic.) · 2023Review
- The Effects of Wildfire Smoke on Asthma and Allergy.Current allergy and asthma reports · 2023Review
- Wildfires: A conflagration of climate-related impacts to health and health systems. Recommendations from 4 continents on how to manage climate-related planetary disasters.The journal of climate change and health · 2021Article
- The Impact of Wildfires on Mental Health: A Scoping Review.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo determine healthcare service utilisation for cardiorespiratory presentations and outpatient salbutamol dispensation associated with 2.5 months of severe, unabating wildfire smoke in Canada's high subarctic.
designA retrospective cohort study using hospital, clinic, pharmacy and environmental data analysed using Poisson regression.
settingTerritorial referral hospital and clinics in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.
participantsIndividuals from Yellowknife and surrounding communities presenting for care between 2012 and 2015.
main outcome measuresEmergency room (ER) presentations, hospital admissions and clinic visits for cardiorespiratory events, and outpatient salbutamol prescriptions
resultsThe median 24-hour mean particulate matter (PM
conclusionsSevere wildfires in 2014 resulted in extended poor air quality associated with increases in health resource utilization; some impacts were seen disproportionately among vulnerable populations, such as children and Indigenous individuals. Public health advisories asking people to stay inside were inadequately protective, with compliance possibly impacted by the prolonged exposure. Future research should investigate use of at-home air filtration systems, clean-air shelters and public health messaging which addresses mental health and supports physical activity.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.