Original ContributionHypothermia in a desert climate: severity score and mortality prediction
Section snippets
Background
Hypothermia, defined as a reduction in the body's core temperature to less than 35°C [1], is a well-known thermoregulatory disorder since ancient times. One of the first documented references of hypothermia in Israel appears in the Bible: “King David was now old, advanced in years; and though they covered him with bedclothes, he never felt warm” [2].
In recent years, hypothermia has been increasingly recognized as a significant problem in clinical practice [3], [4]. Between 1979 and 2002, a
Methods and definitions
We conducted a retrospective study at Soroka University Medical Center, a 1200-bed tertiary care teaching medical center located in Beer Sheva, which serves as the only regional hospital for Southern Israel (estimated population of 700 000). The city of Beer Sheva is situated at 275 m above sea level. The climate in the area is of semiarid type [9]. January is the coldest month, with temperatures from 5°C to 10°C, and August is the hottest month at 18°C to 38°C. The average rain fall is 260 mm a
Results
During 6 years of the study 169 patients with hypothermia were admitted to the hospital. Thus, the annual rate of hypothermia identified at the hospital admission was 7.8 per 100 000 adult population. This rate varied between different age groups with the lowest being between 18 and 24 years (2.5 per 100 000), and the highest, in the group older than 75 years (65.9 per 100 000). Hypothermia was defined as mild in 120 (71.0%), moderate in 40 (23.7%) and severe in 9 (5.3%) of the cases. The major
Discussion
Hypothermia is a condition encountered not infrequently in the ED [12]. Traditionally, hypothermia has been related to a breakdown of the normal mechanisms of thermoregulation as a consequence of exposure to overwhelming cold [4], [8], [12], [13]. The actual worldwide number of “outdoor” patients presenting with hypothermia is unclear. Poverty, homelessness, and alcoholism are frequently associated conditions [3], [4], [12]. The mortality of these patients with moderate or severe accidental
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First and second authors equally contributed to the article.