A Systematic Literature Review of the Impact of Climate Change on the Global Demand for Psychiatric Services
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BORIS DOI
Date of Publication
2023
Publication Type
Article
Division/Institute
Author
Corvetto, Julia Feriato | |
Helou, Ammir Yacoub | |
Dambach, Peter | |
Sauerborn, Rainer |
Subject(s)
Series
International journal of environmental research and public health
ISSN or ISBN (if monograph)
1660-4601
Publisher
MDPI
Language
English
Publisher DOI
Description
Climate Change (CC) imposes important global health risks, including on mental health (MH). They are related mostly to psychological suffering caused by climate-related events and to the heat-vulnerability caused by psychiatric disorders. This growing burden may press MH services worldwide, increasing demand on public and private systems in low-, middle-, and high-income countries. According to PRISMA, two independent reviewers searched four databases for papers published before May 2022 that associated climate-related events with healthcare demand for psychiatric conditions. Of the 7432 papers retrieved, we included 105. Only 29 were carried out in low- and middle-income countries. Twelve related the admission numbers to (i) extreme events, while 93 to (ii) meteorological factors—mostly heat. Emergency visits and hospitalizations were significantly higher during hot periods for MH disorders, especially until lag 5–7. Extreme events also caused more consultations. Suicide (completed or attempted), substance misuse, schizophrenia, mood, organic and neurotic disorders, and mortality were strongly affected by CC. This high healthcare demand is evidence of the burden patients may undergo. In addition, public and private services may face a shortage of financial and human resources. Finally, the increased use of healthcare facilities, in turn, intensifies greenhouse gas emissions, representing a self-enforcing cycle for CC. Further research is needed to better clarify how extreme events affect MH services and, in addition, if services in low- and middle-income countries are more intensely demanded by CC, as compared to richer countries.
File(s)
File | File Type | Format | Size | License | Publisher/Copright statement | Content | |
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ijerph-20-01190.pdf | text | Adobe PDF | 1.35 MB | Attribution (CC BY 4.0) | published |