Can we identify older people most vulnerable to living in cold homes during winter?
PURPOSE
Living in a cold home increases the risk of dying in winter, especially in older people. However, it is unclear which individual factors predict whether older people are living in cold homes.


METHODS
Thousand four hundred two men aged 74-95 years from a U.K. population-based study reported difficulties in keeping warm during winter, answering four simple "yes/no" questions. Associations between individual's characteristics and each of the four self-reported measures of cold homes were estimated using logistic regression models. Next, we investigated whether measures of cold homes predict mortality over the subsequent 2.1 years.


RESULTS
Manual social class, difficulties making ends meet, and not being married were each associated (P < .05) with each of the four measures of cold homes (adjusted odds ratios ranged from 1.61 to 4.68). Social isolation, poor respiratory health, and grip strength were also associated with reports of cold homes. Hundred twenty-six men died; those who reported the presence of at least three measures cold homes had increased mortality (adjusted hazard ratios 2.85 [95% confidence interval, 1.11-7.30, P = .029]).


CONCLUSIONS
Older people who find it hard to keep warm in winter, and have an elevated mortality, could be identified using a self-report questionnaire.
['Sartini|Claudio|C|', 'Tammes|Peter|P|', 'Hay|Alastair D|AD|', 'Preston|Ian|I|', 'Lasserson|Daniel|D|', 'Whincup|Peter H|PH|', 'Wannamethee|S Goya|SG|', 'Morris|Richard W|RW|']
D000368:Aged D000369:Aged, 80 and over D003081:Cold Climate D003080:Cold Temperature D004739:England D005260:Female D006361:Heating D006798:Housing D006801:Humans D008297:Male D011159:Population Surveillance D012111:Residence Characteristics D012621:Seasons D035862:Vulnerable Populations
Cold Homes Winter Mortality United Kingdom