9/15/2022 Grand Rounds

Extreme Heat Impacts on Mental Health in US Adults, and Potential Impacts of Other Climate-Relevant Extreme Weather Events

Speaker:

Amruta Nori-Sarma, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Health
Boston University School of Public Health

While the physical health impacts of extreme heat exposures have been well documented, the mental health impacts of high ambient temperatures remain poorly understood. In this seminar, Dr. Nori-Sarma will describe research conducted using health insurance claims data among US adults to characterize the relationship between elevated ambient summertime temperatures and emergency department visits for mental health, across all causes and for specific causes. She will also discuss research methods for understanding additional climate-relevant extreme weather events and their impacts on mental health-related ED visits in the same claims dataset.

Learning Objectives:
    1. List some effects of high ambient temperatures on mental health.
    2. Describe the research on the relationship of high ambient temperatures with increased mental health visits to EDs.
    3. Discuss the research methods the assist the understanding of this relationship.