The study split temperature-attributable deaths in South Korea into avoidable and non-avoidable causes, using the OECD/Eurostat lists. Nationwide Statistics Korea mortality data for 1990-2023 were analysed with a time-stratified case-crossover design, modelling delayed nonlinear temperature effects. Non-optimum temperature accounted for 5.9% of avoidable deaths and 8.1% of non-avoidable deaths. Within avoidable deaths, it accounted for 9.7% of treatable and 4.3% of preventable deaths. Of all temperature-attributable deaths, 30.1% were avoidable, split 15.3% preventable and 14.8% treatable. Among avoidable causes, circulatory diseases were linked to both cold and heat and formed the largest share.
Why it is interesting: Estimates of temperature-related mortality rarely separate deaths from causes that prevention or healthcare target. Here almost a third of temperature-attributable deaths fell in that avoidable group, led by circulatory diseases.
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