The climate report from the Spanish Meteorological Agency described the months of May to August 2022 as "extremely hot" and now the INE data on the cause of deaths registered in Spain last year show the impact on health of all that suffered heat: during this period, 157,580 deaths were registered, 20.5% more than in the same months of 2019, the year before the pandemic.
And deaths directly caused by heat stroke or dehydration more than doubled. Specifically, doctors certified 122 deaths due to heat stroke (47 in 2019) and 233 caused by dehydration (109 in 2019).
But almost all causes of death, both natural and external, increased, and the greatest increase occurred among people aged 75 and over, a group most affected by previous chronic pathologies that worsen with high temperatures.
The main causes of death in the months of May to August were respiratory diseases, those caused by the covid (12,089 people died from the virus compared to the 6,714 registered in the same period of 2021) and dementia.
However, the INE report highlights the effects that extreme heat had among those who already had previous pathologies: deaths from hypertensive diseases increased by 37% in that period and those caused by diabetes by 31.2%. And during those four months of heat, deaths from external causes also increased, such as drowning, suicide, falls or traffic accidents. Specifically, 6,745 deaths from these causes were recorded, 15% more than a year earlier.
The autonomous communities that registered the highest excess mortality compared to 2019 between May and August were Ceuta (38% more), Canarias (27%) and Illes Balears (26%).
However, if the focus is on specific diseases, the greatest increase in deaths related to hypertensive pathologies was observed in Murcia, with 94%, and that of deaths related to diabetes in Galicia (116% more than in 2019). . In the case of deaths related to mental disorders coinciding with the hottest months, the greatest increase occurred in Andalusia, with 38% more deaths from this cause than in 2019.
In the year as a whole, the external cause that caused the most deaths was accidental drowning and choking. 4,102 cases were registered, 17% more than in 2021.
Suicides followed closely, which caused 4,097 deaths, 2.3% more than a year earlier. In this chapter, the number of suicides among children under 20 years of age is striking, which grew by 12%, data that supports the concern about the deterioration of the mental health of children and adolescents expressed by doctors and educators.
“For 88% of the doctors consulted, mental health is the main concern related to health in childhood, ahead of problems such as obesity or infectious diseases; The figures tell us that in the coming years mental health will cover most of the consultations," said José Antonio Díaz-Huertas, social pediatrician and president of the Scientific Committee for Children and Adolescents of the Madrid College of Physicians last week ( ICOMEM).
In the chapter on deaths from external causes, those caused by traffic accidents and those derived from occasional falls also grew significantly (12%) (3,707 deaths).
In the case of deaths due to diseases, the most frequent among the 463,133 deaths registered in 2022 was covid, with 31,559 people dying from the virus, 20% less than in 2021. Ischemic heart diseases, responsible for of 28,687 deaths, cerebrovascular deaths, with 24,558, and bronchial and lung cancer, with 22,133.
However, when compared with what happened a year earlier, a sharp increase in deaths due to pneumonia (28.6%) and dementia (11%) can be observed.
And if it is differentiated by sex, although in 2022 more men died than women (233,690 and 229,443, respectively), mortality has grown more among them, both compared to the previous year and before the pandemic.
