The Generalitat of Catalonia grants a project to GRECS to study the role of extreme heat in mortality

The Agency for the Management of University and Research Grants has selected the study 'Geographic variability of the effect of extreme heat episodes on mortality in Catalonia. The case of Summer 2022' within the framework of the first call to finance research projects for mitigation and adaptation to climate change.

The study, of which Dr. Maria Antònia Barceló is the principal investigator, is coordinated by the Research Group on Statistics, Econometrics and Health (GRECS) of the University of Girona (UdG). In addition to GRECS, the Social, Environmental and Health Observatory of Dipsalut, the Research Group in Statistics and Compositional Data Analysis of the UdG, the Research and Innovation Unit of the Catalan Institute of Health (ICS) of Central Catalonia, the Institute of Environmental Diagnosis and Water Studies (IDAEA) of the CSIC, the Epidemiology and Cancer Registry Unit of Girona and the Jaume I University are also participating in the research.

This project aims to analyse the geographical variability of the effect of extreme heat episodes on mortality in Catalonia, particularly in the summer of 2022, as well as to estimate what part of the excess can be attributed to extreme heat, direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 and other causes, particularly during 2022.

During 2022, there was excess mortality worldwide, in many cases only surpassed by the excess in 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This excess mortality in 2022 was attributed not only to the direct and indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also to the effects of extreme heat events, such as heat waves, which were exceptional in the summer of 2022. However, while 31-37% of excess deaths in the summer of 2022 were attributed to COVID-19, only 22.92% in Spain and 16.22% in Catalonia were directly attributed to extreme heat. It is very likely that there are other indirect effects of the pandemic. There could have been a displacement of deaths due to a combination of a worsening of chronic diseases as a result of COVID-19 and/or a lack of control, and a late diagnosis in some chronic diseases.