DescriptionSince Nevada experiences extreme heat all over the state, this study examined whether there was a correlation between emergency department visits for kidney-related illnesses and increasing temperature as signified by the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) for the January 1, 2016- December 31, 2019 period.
Public health institutions at international and federal levels have identified anthropogenic climate change as a public health threat, particularly for vulnerable populations. One result of climate change that impacts health is extreme heat. Research shows that extreme heat may lead to negative health outcomes for kidney health.
The primary methodologies were a correlation analysis and linear regression. Additionally, a geospatial analysis was conducted using a heatmap to identify the geographic areas where Nevadans are at the highest level of risk for kidney-related illness as temperatures rise. Based on the literature review, a public policy analysis focused on whether climate-health adaptation including kidney-related illnesses are addressing the human health risks adequately. One limitation of the study was that there was no weather data available for Storey County. There also were limitations on the granularity of data due to the HIPAA minimum cell size standard.
The results of the analyses showed a strong relationship between the WBGT and emergency department visits for kidney-related illness, that urban areas of Nevada are most at-risk, and that public policy does not address the risk sufficiently today. In conclusion, this research indicates that Nevada should focus climate-adaptation and mitigation policies for kidney-related illness on Clark County and Washoe County. Future studies should incorporate geospatial analyses using smaller geographic subdivisions such as census tracts.