Effectiveness of health education about heat wave hazard prevention in the elderly: a mixed effect model analysis

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of health education about prevention of heat wave hazard in the elderly. Methods: A non-randomized controlled trial was conducted during the summer of 2015 among a sample of residents aged ≥60 years in Panyu district, Guangzhou. Eight intervention measures for heat wave hazard prevention were taken in intervention group for 3 months (from August to October) and in control group no intervention measures were taken. The comparison of intervention effects was conducted between the intervention group and control group with mixed effect model after the collection of related information with same questionnaire. Results: After adjusting of family per capita income, family air-condition availability, alcohol use, disease history and time, the average score of risk awareness in the intervention group increased by 1.62, while it was 0.51 in the control group, the difference was significant (t=2.76, P=0.006). A significant effect was observed in the intervention group on the reduction of hospitalizations due to chronic diseases. The hospitalization rate due to chronic diseases in resent 3 months in the intervention group decreased from 32.39% (46/142) before intervention to 28.87% (41/142) after intervention; while in the control group, it increased from 26.28% (41/156) before intervention to 36.53% (57/156) after intervention. There was no significant difference between the two groups in awareness of knowledge on heat wave hazard prevention and the score of adaptation to heat wave. Conclusion: Health education programs could improve the risk awareness on heat waves, and reduce the hospitalizations due to chronic diseases in the elderly.