Heatwaves could be linked to more hospital visits for mental health issues

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-07-10 19:00

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Australian and international researchers say sustained extreme heat was linked to an increased risk of heading to the hospital for issues relating to mental health. The researchers looked at hospitalisation records from across the globe, covering over 2.6 million admissions and nearly two decades. With a heatwave being described as being hotter than 97.5% of the other days of the year, and lasting for four consecutive days, the researchers say the relative risk of being hospitalised was around 3.3% higher during the first day of the heatwave, and up to 5.6% higher over the following eight days. These links were stronger among older adults and in people who live in areas with lower population density, the team adds.

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conference: Nature Health

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Monash University, The University of Sydney, University of Otago, Adelaide University, The University of New South Wales, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), The University of Queensland

Funder: Yiwen Zhang is supported by NHMRC e-Asia Joint Research Program Grant (GNT2000581). W. Huang and T.Y. are supported by China Scholarship Council funds (W. Huang, 202006380055; T.Y., 201906320051). R.X. is supported by Monash Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Science (FMNHS) Bridging Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 and VicHealth Postdoctoral Research Fellowships 2022. M.S.Z.S.C. and P.H.N.S. are supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation. S.L. is supported by the Emerging Leader Fellowship (GNT2009866) of the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. Y.G. is supported by the Career Development Fellowship (GNT1163693) and the Leader Fellowship (GNT2008813) of the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council.

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