Evaluation of a Novel Classification of Heat-Related Illnesses: A Multicentre Observational Study (Heat Stroke STUDY 2012)

The Japanese Association for Acute Medicine Committee recently proposed a novel classification system for the severity of heat-related illnesses. The illnesses are simply classified into three stages based on symptoms and management or treatment. Stages I, II, and III broadly correspond to heat cram...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2018-09, Vol.15 (9), p.1962
Main Authors: Yamamoto, Takahiro, Fujita, Motoki, Oda, Yasutaka, Todani, Masaki, Hifumi, Toru, Kondo, Yutaka, Shimazaki, Junya, Shiraishi, Shinichiro, Hayashida, Kei, Yokobori, Shoji, Takauji, Shuhei, Wakasugi, Masahiro, Nakamura, Shunsuke, Kanda, Jun, Yagi, Masaharu, Moriya, Takashi, Kawahara, Takashi, Tonouchi, Michihiko, Yokota, Hiroyuki, Miyake, Yasufumi, Shimizu, Keiki, Tsuruta, Ryosuke
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Alanine
Alanine transaminase
Blood
Blood tests
Classification
Consciousness
Creatinine
Critical care
Data entry
Emergency medical care
Emergency medical services
Exhaustion
Female
Health care
Heat
Heat Exhaustion - classification
Heat stroke
Heatstroke
Hospitals
Hot Temperature - adverse effects
Humans
Illnesses
Japan
Male
Medical personnel
Medicine
Middle Aged
Observational studies
Patients
Stroke
Syncope
Urea
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Summary:The Japanese Association for Acute Medicine Committee recently proposed a novel classification system for the severity of heat-related illnesses. The illnesses are simply classified into three stages based on symptoms and management or treatment. Stages I, II, and III broadly correspond to heat cramp and syncope, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke, respectively. Our objective was to examine whether this novel severity classification is useful in the diagnosis by healthcare professionals of patients with severe heat-related illness and organ failure. A nationwide surveillance study of heat-related illnesses was conducted between 1 June and 30 September 2012, at emergency departments in Japan. Among the 2130 patients who attended 102 emergency departments, the severity of their heat-related illness was recorded for 1799 patients, who were included in this study. In the patients with heat cramp and syncope or heat exhaustion (but not heat stroke), the blood test data (alanine aminotransferase, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, and platelet counts) for those classified as Stage III were significantly higher than those of patients classified as Stage I or II. There were no deaths among the patients classified as Stage I. This novel classification may avoid underestimating the severity of heat-related illness.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph15091962