Climate change and global health outcome indicators: A scoping review

Background The impact of climate change on human health is not evenly distributed and is affected by regional geography and vulnerability of the local population. Official statistics that report these uneven impacts are needed to facilitate strategic planning and resource allocation. Purpose Identify globally defined indicators of the impacts of climate change on human health to inform the design of official statistics. Methods We followed recognized methods guidance for scoping reviews. Results Reviewing 4415 unique records, we extracted 73 unique and 33 repeated indicators from 20 sources. Temperature-related indicators were the most common (27%, 29/106), but many were repeated. Injury or illness indicators were more frequent than mortality indicators, with 59% (43/73) and 37% (27/73) respectively. Following breakdown of the categories into smaller, more specific outcomes, mortality from extreme weather events (n = 10) and illness due to zoonoses/vector-borne diseases (n = 9) were the most prevalent indicators. There was an absence/gap of indicators for five secondary categories. Conclusion Synthesis of climate-sensitive health indicators is crucial for establishing a cohesive official statistics framework to monitor the health impacts of climate change-related events. The abundance (and gaps) of indicators across categories of health effects aids in prioritization of developing new indicators and improving data availability.