{
  "abstract": "Background: Cold weather remains a serious health threat in the UK and elsewhere, particularly for older adults. The Winter Fuel Payment has been a key government strategy to mitigate health risks linked to cold homes in the UK, but recent policy shifts have raised questions about whether income-based eligibility criteria effectively identify those most at risk.\n\nMethods: We analysed cold-related mortality in adults aged ≥75 across 324 local authority districts in England (2007–2019) using distributed lag non-linear models in a spatial Bayesian framework. Multivariate meta-regression was used to evaluate modification of cold effects by deprivation, income-based pension credit uptake, home energy efficiency and fuel poverty.\n\nResults: Areas in the highest quartile of fuel poverty had significantly greater cold-related mortality risk than those in the lowest quartile, with a 15.3% versus 13.1% increase in mortality risk at the first compared with the 50th percentile of wintertime temperature, ie, an absolute difference of 2.2% (p < 0.001). This effect was stronger than the corresponding differences for energy efficiency (1.7%, p = 0.04), income as indicated by pension credit uptake (0.6%, p = 0.39) and deprivation-based measures, for which differences were minimal. Overall, an estimated 17% of cold-related deaths among people aged ≥75 were attributable to fuel poverty.\n\nConclusions: Fuel poverty, an indicator designed to capture both low-income and housing energy efficiency, is a stronger predictor of cold-related mortality than income (as indicated by pension credit update) or deprivation-based indicators alone. Winter energy support schemes should consider fuel poverty metrics in their targeting to more effectively reduce health risks associated with cold homes and improve equity.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": "abstract",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "K Wan"
    },
    {
      "name": "J Taylor"
    },
    {
      "name": "M Quijal-Zamorano"
    },
    {
      "name": "J Ballester"
    },
    {
      "name": "S Hajat"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6cf986ehm2rrn.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.665",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13697505/",
  "id": "6cf986ehm2rrn",
  "issns": [
    "1101-1262",
    "1464-360X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.665",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "4. Pecha Kucha sessions"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/MED00860"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/SOC01210"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/SOC02610"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2310|Energy and Environment Impacts"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223649809",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13697505/pdf/?tool=EBI",
  "pmcid": "PMC13697505",
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": "Oxford University Press",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6cf986ehm2rrn.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:33Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13697505",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.665"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:21:40Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13697505",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13697505"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "earth",
      "origin": "openalex:2310|Energy and Environment Impacts",
      "subfield": "environmental-science"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Eligibility criteria for the UK Winter Fuel Payment: are we targeting the right people?",
  "title_text": "Eligibility criteria for the UK Winter Fuel Payment: are we targeting the right people?",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:34:32Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6cf986ehm2rrn",
  "venue": "The European Journal of Public Health",
  "versions": []
}