Friday, May 10, 2024
5/10/2024
SUMMARY/ABSTRACT In 2020, U.S. electricity customers faced an average of 8 hours without power, the longest duration on record. Climate change is expected to cause more severe weather events, which can damage electricity grids and dis- tribution pathways. Outages may be particularly problematic for cardiovascular health, as they disrupt access to temperature-controlling tools (e.g., air conditioners, fans). Climate change will also result in higher temperatures, which can exacerbate cardiovascular disease (CVD). CVD affects 126.9 million American adults and is the lead- ing cause of death and disability in the U.S., with communities color and socially marginalized communities disproportionately affected. Understanding the impact of power outages on CVD and how this relationship varies across community sociodemographic characteristics is central to climate and environmental justice. A critical research gap remains about the health effects of power outages generally and the extent to which they affect acute CVD risk. Partly due to the lack of high spatiotemporal resolution measures for outage exposure, most prior studies have not measured neighborhood-level electricity availability. Additionally, previous studies did not consider the potential dual threat when outages co-occur with anomalous temperatures or whether certain com- munities may be particularly vulnerable to the effect of power outages. In particular, we will consider whether individuals living in communities with higher social vulnerability or more racial/economic segregation experience worse CVD outcomes after power outages. We will use 2017-2020 New York Statewide Planning and Research Co-operative System (SPARCS) hospitalization data and 30-minute resolution power outage data within 1,831 power operating units statewide to fill this gap. Using diagnostic codes, we will identify hourly hospitalizations for the acute cardiovascular outcomes, myocardial infarction and stroke. We plan to implement case-crossover study designs with conditional logistic models, which inherently control for non-time-varying individual-level con- founding variables. Our overarching hypothesis is that more outage hours are associated with increased risk of CVD hospitalizations, particularly during anomalous temperature events, and that there will be disparities in this exposure-response relationship across area-level vulnerability and segregation. We aim to (1) investigate the association between power outages and CVD hospitalizations, (2) determine the impacts of exposure to power outages during anomalously hot and anomalously cold temperature events separately on CVD hospitalizations, and (3) identify communities vulnerable to the effects of outages on CVD. This research supports the NIEHS Strategic Plan to evaluate co-exposures and considers issues of environmental justice. Collectively, we will pro- vide crucial information that can inform future climate adaptation policies to reduce CVD-related morbidity in an equitable manner.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
