Cold comfort: The social and environmental determinants of excess winter deaths in England, 1986-96

The nature of the study means that misclassifcation of the temperature characteristics of dwellings is inevitable, and this is likely to lead to underestimation of the influence of home heating on the temperature–mortality relationship. [...] At the highest ambient temperatures December to March exceeds that of other months the increase in deaths is mainly attributable to the of the year – does not reflect the true magnitude effects of heat stress on the cardiovascular system. [...] Pertinent to the current analyses is the observation that the amplitude of seasonal fluctuation is much larger in people living in the coldest homes (the bottom 25% of the predicted hall temperatures) than it is for people living in the warmest homes (the top 25% of the predicted hall temperatures). [...] If we accept the evidence of this study that it is low indoor temperature that is What was unexpected in the results was the of primary importance from a housing point of flatness of the relationship between excess winter view, the combination of housing characteristics death and socioeconomic group. [...] The complexity lies in the efficiency improvement on the most vulnerable variety of possible policy options, the distribution groups of owner-occupiers – the sector with the of risks in different social groups, the largest number of fuel poor households – and in heterogeneity of the housing stock, issues of private rented accommodation – the sector that targeting and uptake, the range of outcomes.