MONDAY, March 16, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Power outages may increase the risk for hospitalization among older U.S. adults, according to a study published online March 12 in PLOS Medicine.
Heather McBrien, from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City, and colleagues examined if power outages (of at least eight hours in duration in 2018) are associated with emergency cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related and respiratory disease-related hospitalizations among older U.S. adults. The researchers used a national dataset of power outage exposure and Medicare Fee-for-Service beneficiaries to estimate daily county-level rates of emergency CVD- and respiratory-related hospitalizations.
The researchers found that power outages were associated with increased emergency CVD and respiratory hospitalizations, with 4,246 excess hospitalizations due to power outages. The association with CVD hospitalization was strongest the day after power outage exposure (rate ratio [RR], 1.02), while the association between outage and respiratory disease was strongest the day of power outage exposure (RR, 1.03).
"With outage frequency and duration increasing due to climate change, these outages may pose a growing threat to the cardiovascular and respiratory health of older adults," the authors write.