Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
190,851 studies31 sourcesUpdated 59 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BYThe Lancet Regional Health. Western Pacific

Age-stratified health impacts of climate change on older adults in the Western Pacific Region: a scoping review

  • Dongkyu Lee1
  • In-Hwan Oh2
  • John S. Ji3
  • Mikiko Kanda4
  • Hitomi Kimura4
  • Siwon Lee4
  • Josselyn Mothe5
  • Jinah Park6
  • Enkhtsetseg Shinee5
  • Ho Kim7
7 affiliations
  1. 1Institute of Health and Environment, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
  2. 2Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
  3. 3Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
  4. 4Healthy Ageing Unit, Division of Data, Strategy and Innovation, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Western Pacific, Manila, Philippines
  5. 5WHO Asia-Pacific Centre for Environment and Health in the Western Pacific Region, Seoul, Republic of Korea
  6. 6Department of Public Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
  7. 7Department of Public Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Corresponding author.
Read full textPDFDOICite

Abstract

While research on the health impacts of climate change is growing, studies integrating these effects across finer age strata within older adult populations, such as distinguishing young-old from old–old adults remain scarce, particularly in the Western Pacific region. This scoping review synthesizes 119 cases extracted from 100 peer-reviewed studies published from 2016 to 2025, identified via systematic searches of PubMed, Scopus, and Embase using keyword clusters for older adults, climate change, and the Western Pacific. Most cases (n = 61, 51%) examined heat, followed by extreme cold (n = 31, 26%), air pollution (n = 11, 9%), with geographic concentration in mainland China (n = 84, 71%); old–old adults generally showed greater vulnerability than young-old adults. These findings suggest heterogeneity in climate impacts among older adults, indicating that a one-size-fits-all approach may be insufficient and that finer age stratifications could help inform policies better tailored to old–old adults.

Related

  1. Impacts of long-term climate change on human health: a global scoping review of quantitative research
    Jesse Limaheluw, Rebecca Niese, Dieneke Bijkerk-Schram +5
    BMJ OpenPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Pharmacology & toxicologyCrossref
  2. Mapping sex-based absolute inequalities in tuberculosis incidence across countries in the WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions
    Ziwen Li, Ke Liu, Wei Shu +7
    BMC Public HealthPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Infectious diseaseCrossref
  3. Exploring the spatial nexus between air quality, climate change, and socioeconomic determinants of maternal mortality across the Asia–Pacific region
    Bazzil Muzaffar Khan, Nabila Khurshid, Chinyere Emmanuel Egbe +2
    BMC Public HealthPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Pharmacology & toxicologyCrossref
  4. Transport-injury burden among children and adolescents in the Western Pacific Region, 2000-2023, with projections to 2035.
    Rongxiang Sun, Qinglong Jian, Chen Ye +5
    Frontiers in pediatricsPeer-reviewedCC BYFull textEpidemiology & public healthEurope PMCPMC
  5. Health impacts of US international economic sanctions: a scoping review
    Deborah Korenstein, Christopher Schou, Emily Lum +4
    BMJ OpenPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC 4.0General medicineCrossref

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{lee2026agestratified,
  title = {{Age-stratified health impacts of climate change on older adults in the Western Pacific Region: a scoping review}},
  author = {Dongkyu Lee and In-Hwan Oh and John S. Ji and Mikiko Kanda and Hitomi Kimura and Siwon Lee and Josselyn Mothe and Jinah Park and Enkhtsetseg Shinee and Ho Kim},
  journal = {The Lancet Regional Health. Western Pacific},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1016/j.lanwpc.2026.102004},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwpc.2026.102004},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Age-stratified health impacts of climate change on older adults in the Western Pacific Region: a scoping review
AU  - Dongkyu Lee
AU  - In-Hwan Oh
AU  - John S. Ji
AU  - Mikiko Kanda
AU  - Hitomi Kimura
AU  - Siwon Lee
AU  - Josselyn Mothe
AU  - Jinah Park
AU  - Enkhtsetseg Shinee
AU  - Ho Kim
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/01
JO  - The Lancet Regional Health. Western Pacific
DO  - 10.1016/j.lanwpc.2026.102004
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwpc.2026.102004
AB  - While research on the health impacts of climate change is growing, studies integrating these effects across finer age strata within older adult populations, such as distinguishing young-old from old–old adults remain scarce, particularly in the Western Pacific region. This scoping review synthesizes 119 cases extracted from 100 peer-reviewed studies published from 2016 to 2025, identified via systematic searches of PubMed, Scopus, and Embase using keyword clusters for older adults, climate change, and the Western Pacific. Most cases (n = 61, 51%) examined heat, followed by extreme cold (n = 31, 26%), air pollution (n = 11, 9%), with geographic concentration in mainland China (n = 84, 71%); old–old adults generally showed greater vulnerability than young-old adults. These findings suggest heterogeneity in climate impacts among older adults, indicating that a one-size-fits-all approach may be insufficient and that finer age stratifications could help inform policies better tailored to old–old adults.
SN  - 2666-6065
ER  -