新西兰惠灵顿奥塔哥大学Caroline Fyfe团队研究了家庭安装隔热材料与住院率的关系。2020年12月29日，该研究发表在《英国医学杂志》上。

为了调查在家庭中加装隔热材料是否能降低居民与寒冷相关的住院率，并确定其效果是否因不同人群和隔热材料类型而有所差异，研究组使用链接数据集，进行了一项评估国家干预计划的准实验回顾性队列研究。

2009年7月至2014年6月，共有204405户的994317名居民通过新西兰能源效率和节能局的智能供热改造计划获得了隔热补贴。对研究人群在加装隔热材料前后，与未接受干预的对照人群在相同两个时间段内的住院率变化，采用差异法进行比较。

在研究期间，共有234873名居民住院。干预组和对照组在所有人群类别和条件下的住院率在干预后都有所上升，但太平洋人群的急性住院率（比值比为0.94）、哮喘（0.92）、心血管疾病（0.90）、及65岁以上人群的缺血性心脏病（0.79）除外。然而，与对照组相比，干预组干预后的增长率显著降低（11%，相对比率为0.89），即干预人群每1000人中住院人数减少9.26人。其中对呼吸系统疾病（0.85），所有年龄段的哮喘（0.80）和65岁以上缺血性心脏病（0.75）的影响更为显著。

这项研究表明，一项全国性的家庭隔热干预措施可减少住院人数，改善居民的健康状况。

附：英文原文

Title: Association between home insulation and hospital admission rates: retrospective cohort study using linked data from a national intervention programme

Author: Caroline Fyfe, Lucy Telfar, Barnard, Philippa Howden-Chapman, Jeroen Douwes

Issue&Volume: 2020/12/29

Abstract:

Objectives To investigate whether retrofitting insulation into homes can reduce cold associated hospital admission rates among residents and to identify whether the effect varies between different groups within the population and by type of insulation.

Design A quasi-experimental retrospective cohort study using linked datasets to evaluate a national intervention programme.

Participants 994317 residents of 204405 houses who received an insulation subsidy through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority Warm-up New Zealand: Heat Smart retrofit programme between July 2009 and June 2014.

Main outcome measure A difference-in-difference approach was used to compare the change in hospital admissions of the study population post-insulation with the change in hospital admissions of the control population that did not receive the intervention over the same two timeframes. Relative rate ratios were used to compare the two groups.

Results 234873 hospital admissions occurred during the study period. Hospital admission rates after the intervention increased in the intervention and control groups for all population categories and conditions with the exception of acute hospital admissions among Pacific Peoples (rate ratio 0.94, 95% confidence interval 0.90 to 0.98), asthma (0.92, 0.86 to 0.99), cardiovascular disease (0.90, 0.88 to 0.93), and ischaemic heart disease for adults older than 65 years (0.79, 0.74 to 0.84). Post-intervention increases were, however, significantly lower (11%) in the intervention group compared with the control group (relative rate ratio 0.89, 95% confidence interval 0.88 to 0.90), representing 9.26 (95% confidence interval 9.05 to 9.47) fewer hospital admissions per 1000 in the intervention population. Effects were more pronounced for respiratory disease (0.85, 0.81 to 0.90), asthma in all age groups (0.80, 0.70 to 0.90), and ischaemic heart disease in those older than 65 years (0.75, 0.66 to 0.83).

Conclusion This study showed that a national home insulation intervention was associated with reduced hospital admissions, supporting previous research, which found an improvement in self-reported health.

DOI: 10.1136/bmj.m4571

Source: https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4571