ReviewEnvironmental health perspectives2024
The Carbon Footprint of Hospital Services and Care Pathways: A State-of-the-Science Review.
Review in Environmental health perspectives, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Environmental footprint of gastrointestinal endoscopy services: a systematic review.Endoscopy · 2026Pooled it
- Environmental sustainability of offloading care pathways for people with a diabetes-related foot ulcer: a life-cycle assessment.Diabetologia · 2026Article
- Climate Change: A National Survey on Viewpoints of Italian Epilepsy-Care Professionals.European journal of neurology · 2026Article
- Theatre-Based Carbon Footprint of Five Common Orthopaedic Trauma Procedures: A Single-Centre Comparative Analysis.Cureus · 2026Article
- IPNA's commitment to world kidney day 2026: caring for little kidneys and protecting the planet.Pediatric nephrology (Berlin, Germany) · 2026Article
- Grid carbon intensity drives the electricity-related carbon footprint of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy: a cross-jurisdiction modelling study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Incorporating climate impact in health care decisions: new criteria to be tested in the Netherlands.International journal of technology assessment in health care · 2026Article
- Using Life Cycle Assessments to Measure the Environmental Impact of Alternative Care Models in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Multicenter study protocol on clinical, environmental, and economic outcomes of hybrid versus disposable surgical trays (project rEUsable).International journal of surgery protocols · 2026Article
- Environmental sustainability of ultrasound-guided core-needle breast biopsy: a survey on current practices by the European Society of Breast Imaging (EUSOBI).Insights into imaging · 2026Article
- Air pollution, inhaled therapy and COPD exacerbations in Yunlin, Taiwan: a 2016-2024 single-centre retrospective cohort with environmental and carbon-footprint analyses.BMJ open respiratory research · 2025Observational
- Attitudes towards addressing environmental sustainability in patient-provider interactions: a qualitative study among Dutch physicians.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Comment on: The environmental impact of intravenous antimicrobial therapies: a comparison of OPAT and inpatient administration care pathways.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2025Article
- Green epileptology: Acceptance of telemedical follow-up under climate protection aspects.Epilepsia open · 2025Article
- Clinical and patient-reported outcomes of self-administered outpatient parenteral antimicrobial treatment (S-OPAT): a scoping review.Infection · 2025Article
- The role of environmental impact assessments in hospital care: Healthcare professionals' views on research and implementation priorities.Health research policy and systems · 2025Article
- Sustainable development goals: a call for future internal medicine.Internal and emergency medicine · 2025Review
- Invited Perspective: Accelerating Action toward Carbon-Neutral Hospital Care.Environmental health perspectives · 2024Article
- The interplay of factors influencing the carbon footprint of hospital care-A causal mapping analysis of scientific reports.The journal of climate change and healthArticle
- Interventions to promote mental and physical health in changing working environments due to climate change, sustainable work practices, and work in green jobs: The EU INTERCAMBIO project.The journal of climate change and healthArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundClimate change is the 21st century's biggest global health threat, endangering health care systems worldwide. Health care systems, and hospital care in particular, are also major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.
objectivesThis study used a systematic search and screening process to review the carbon footprint of hospital services and care pathways, exploring key contributing factors and outlining the rationale for chosen services and care pathways in the studies.
methodsThis state-of-the-science review searched the MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), GreenFILE (EBSCOhost), Web of Science, Scopus, and the HealthcareLCA databases for literature published between 1 January 2000 and 1 January 2024. Gray literature was considered up to 1 January 2024. Inclusion criteria comprised original research reporting on the carbon footprint of hospital services or care pathways. Quality of evidence was assessed according to the guidelines for critical review of product life cycle assessment (LCA). PROSPERO registration number: CRD42023398527.
resultsOf 5,415 records, 76 studies were included, encompassing 151 hospital services and care pathways across multiple medical specialties. Reported carbon footprints varied widely, from DISCUSSION: Hospital services and care pathways have a large climate impact. Quantifying the carbon footprint and identifying hotspots enables targeted and prioritized mitigation efforts. Even for similar services, the carbon footprint varies considerably between settings, underscoring the necessity of localized studies. The emerging field of health care sustainability research faces substantial methodological heterogeneity, compromising the validity and reproducibility of study results. This review informs future carbon footprint studies by highlighting understudied areas in hospital care and providing guidance for selecting specific services and pathways. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP14754.
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Identifiers
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.