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. 2012 Aug;120(8):1076-82.
doi: 10.1289/ehp.1104093. Epub 2012 Apr 13.

How well does climate change and human health research match the demands of policymakers? A scoping review

Jamie Hosking  1 , Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum
Affiliations

How well does climate change and human health research match the demands of policymakers? A scoping review

Jamie Hosking et al. Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Aug.

Abstract

Background: In 2008, the World Health Organization (WHO) Member States passed a World Health Assembly resolution that identified the following five priority areas for research and pilot projects on climate change and human health: health vulnerability, health protection, health impacts of mitigation and adaptation policies, decision-support and other tools, and costs of health protection from climate change.

Objectives: To assess the extent to which recently published research corresponds to these priorities, we undertook a scoping review of original research on climate change and human health. Scoping reviews address topics that are too broad for a systematic review and commonly aim to identify research gaps in existing literature. We also assessed recent publication trends for climate change and health research.

Methods: We searched for original quantitative research published from 2008 onward. We included disease burden studies that were specific to climate change and health and included intervention studies that focused on climate change and measured health outcomes. We used MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science databases and extracted data on research priority areas, geographic regions, health fields, and equity (systematic differences between advantaged and disadvantaged social groups).

Discussion: We identified 40 eligible studies. Compared with other health topics, the number of climate change publications has grown rapidly, with a larger proportion of reviews or editorials. Recent original research addressed four of the five priority areas identified by the WHO Member States, but we found no eligible studies of health adaptation interventions, and most of the studies focused on high-income countries.

Conclusions: Climate change and health is a rapidly growing area of research, but quantitative studies remain rare. Among recently published studies, we found gaps in adaptation research and a deficit of studies in most developing regions. Funders and researchers should monitor and respond to research gaps to help ensure that the needs of policymakers are met.

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Conflict of interest statement

One author is a staff member of the World Health Organization. The authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this publication, and they do not necessarily represent the decisions or policies of the World Health Organization.

The authors declare they have no actual or potential competing financial interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Logic model for research on climate change and health in relation to global research priorities. Categories reflect the priorities set by the WHO (2009).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Flow diagram showing inclusion and exclusion strategy.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Number of MEDLINE citations, by topic, compared with year 2000 baseline.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Percentage of MEDLINE citations that were not original research, 2000 to mid-2010, by topic.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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