ArticlePloS one2021
Ambient temperature and mental health hospitalizations in Bern, Switzerland: A 45-year time-series study.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 70 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impacts of extreme temperatures on mood disorders: A systematic review.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2025Pooled it
- Determinants and relationships of climate change, climate change hazards, mental health, and well-being: a systematic review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of ambient temperature on mental and neurological conditions in older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Environment international · 2024Pooled it
- Climatic and meteorological exposure and mental and behavioral health: A systematic review and meta-analysis.The Science of the total environment · 2023Pooled it
- A Systematic Literature Review of the Impact of Climate Change on the Global Demand for Psychiatric Services.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Exploring the association between precipitation and hospital admission for mental disorders in Switzerland between 2009 and 2019.PloS one · 2023Pooled it
- Foehn wind as a biometeorological stressor: effects on somatic and mental health - a narrative review.International journal of biometeorology · 2026Review
- Effects of Heat Waves on Hospitalizations, Emergency Department Visits, and Outpatient Care in Frail Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Unveiling heat vulnerability of older adults: an assessment of emergency hospital admissions in Switzerland.International journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- A short-term association between hospitalizations for mental disorders and ambient temperature in Japan: an ecological study using the LIFE Study data.Environmental health and preventive medicine · 2026Article
- Short-term variations in summer temperatures and mental health-related emergency department visits in Ontario, Canada.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2025Article
- Exploring perceived relationships between weather, climate and mental health: biometeorological perspectives of healthcare practitioners.International journal of biometeorology · 2025Article
- Health impacts of extreme heat in medically at-risk populations: a space-time stratified case-crossover analysis in Belgium.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Article
- A small area analysis of acute exposure to temperatures and mental health in North Carolina.International journal of biometeorology · 2025Article
- Association between climate related hazards and depression among coastal communities in Indonesia.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The Impact of Seasonality on Mental Health Disorders: A Narrative Review and Extension of the Immunoseasonal Theory.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Exploring eco-anxiety among women amid climate-induced heat: a comprehensive review.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Review
- Neurological and mental health in the era of climate change: mechanisms, clinical impacts, and adaptation.Frontiers in public health · 2025Review
- An Observational Longitudinal Study on Seasonal Variations in Tourette Syndrome: Evidence for a Role of Ambient Temperature in Tic Exacerbation.Biomedicines · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPsychiatric disorders constitute a major public health concern that are associated with substantial health and socioeconomic burden. Psychiatric patients may be more vulnerable to high temperatures, which under current climate change projections will most likely increase the burden of this public health concern.
objectiveThis study investigated the short-term association between ambient temperature and mental health hospitalizations in Bern, Switzerland.
methodsDaily hospitalizations for mental disorders between 1973 and 2017 were collected from the University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy in Bern. Population-weighted daily mean ambient temperatures were derived for the catchment area of the hospital from 2.3-km gridded weather maps. Conditional quasi-Poisson regression with distributed lag linear models were applied to assess the association up to three days after the exposure. Stratified analyses were conducted by age, sex, and subdiagnosis, and by subperiods (1973-1989 and 1990-2017). Additional subanalyses were performed to assess whether larger risks were found during the warm season or were due to heatwaves.
resultsThe study included a total number of 88,996 hospitalizations. Overall, the hospitalization risk increased linearly by 4.0% (95% CI 2.0%, 7.0%) for every 10°C increase in mean daily temperature. No evidence of a nonlinear association or larger risks during the warm season or heatwaves was found. Similar estimates were found across for all sex and age categories, and larger risks were found for hospitalizations related to developmental disorders (29.0%; 95% CI 9.0%, 54.0%), schizophrenia (10.0%; 95% CI 4.0%, 15.0%), and for the later rather than the earlier period (5.0%; 95% CI 2.0%, 8.0% vs. 2.0%; 95% CI -3.0%, 8.0%).
conclusionsOur findings suggest that increasing temperatures could negatively affect mental status in psychiatric patients. Specific public health policies are urgently needed to protect this vulnerable population from the effects of climate change.
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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.