Table 1.
Characteristics of patients 65 years and older admitted to the hospital, temperature, and ZIP code characteristics in 109 U.S. cities and 8,200 ZIP codes, May–September, 1992–2006.
| Minimum | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile | Maximum | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citywide mean daily number of hospitalizationsa | |||||
|
| |||||
| Renal/heat | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 6.8 |
| Respiratory | 1.0 | 2.5 | 4.2 | 7.0 | 49.0 |
|
| |||||
| Patient characteristics (citywide percent of respiratory, renal and heat cases) | |||||
|
| |||||
| Aged > 78 years | 38.1 | 46.2 | 49.5 | 51.2 | 60.0 |
| Male | 39.2 | 43.8 | 45.5 | 47.4 | 55.0 |
| Black race | 5.2 | 11.5 | 16.1 | 28.5 | 66.2 |
|
| |||||
| Daily citywide exposures, °C | |||||
|
| |||||
| 90th percentile of maximum daily temperature | 25.8 | 30.6 | 32.9 | 34.7 | 43.1 |
| 97th percentile of maximum daily temperature | 28.6 | 33.1 | 34.7 | 36.1 | 44.4 |
|
| |||||
| ZIP code characteristics | |||||
|
| |||||
| Percent non-green space (% Non-Green) | 0.0 | 10.0 | 38.6 | 73.9 | 100.0 |
| Percent of residents without a high school degree (% No HS) | 0.0 | 9.8 | 16.4 | 26.1 | 100.0 |
| Percent of residents of black race (% Black) | 0.0 | 0.7 | 2.8 | 10.4 | 100.0 |
| Percent of residents below poverty level (%Poverty) | 0.0 | 4.2 | 7.5 | 14.4 | 100.0 |
| Percent of households in structures built before 1940 (% Built < 1940) | 0.0 | 2.7 | 11.4 | 27.4 | 100.0 |
|
| |||||
| Citywide percent of households with central air conditioning in 1999 (ACP) | 4.9 | 33.1 | 63.6 | 81.0 | 96.4 |
a
ICD-9-CM primary admission codes: renal/heat: 580–589, 992 or E900.0; respiratory: 480–487, 490–492, 494–496. Counts of hospitalizations for heat causes also include hospitalizations with any contributing causes coded as heat-related.