Impact of urban heat islands on human health in India – a systematic review protocol

Chinnu S. Varughese; Sapna M. Mani; Vineetha Vincent; Sunu A. Cherian; Nisha Kurian

doi:10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20251731

Authors

Chinnu S. Varughese Department of Community Medicine, Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Thiruvalla, Kerala, India
Sapna M. Mani Department of Community Medicine, Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Thiruvalla, Kerala, India
Vineetha Vincent The University of Queensland - Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Academy of Research (UQIDAR), India
Sunu A. Cherian Department of Oral and Maxilofacial Pathology, Pushpagiri College of Dental Sciences, Thiruvalla, Kerala, India; Pushpagiri Centre for Evidence-Based Practice (PCEBP): A JBI Center of Excellence, Thiruvalla, Kerala, India
Nisha Kurian Department of Community Medicine, Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Thiruvalla, Kerala, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20251731

Keywords:

Climate change, Heat stress, Low and middle-income countries, Urban health, Urbanization

Abstract

Background: Worldwide, urbanization is occurring at an accelerated rate, especially in India. The development of urban areas contributes to urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon. Though the health effects of UHIs have been studied in various urban areas across the world, there is a need to develop evidence in India. This is essential for implementing effective and country-specific interventions aimed at mitigating the UHI effect while expanding urban areas in the country. The objective of this review is to describe the human health impacts of urban heat islands in India. The review will consider studies that focus on urban populations irrespective of age and sex, which report on health effects due to urban heat islands, or changes in ambient temperatures due to urbanization.

Methods: This review will search for both published and unpublished studies. The information sources to be searched will include Medline (PubMed), Embase, Epistemonikos, Virtual Health Library, PsychINFO (EBSCO), Mednar, Dissertation Abstracts International, Proquest dissertations and theses, World Health Organization (WHO) website and Google Scholar. Studies published from database inception till current date, as well as those published in English, will be included. Two independent reviewers will conduct a critical appraisal of eligible studies, assess the methodological quality, and extract the data.

Conclusions: This review will add to the body of evidence on urban heat island effects on human health and help to inform urban policy and planning.

Trial registration number: PROSPERO - CRD42024588528

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Sethi SS, Vinoj V. Urbanization and regional climate change-linked warming of Indian cities. Nat Cities. 2024;1(6):402-5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-024-00074-0

Piracha A, Chaudhary MT. Urban Air Pollution, Urban Heat Island and Human Health: A Review of the Literature. Sustainability. 2022;14(15):9234. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159234

United Nations - Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Sustainable Development. Goal 11. Available at: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal11. Accessed on 09 April 2025.

World Health Organization, UN-Habitat. Global report on urban health: equitable healthier cities for sustainable development. 2016. Available at: https:// iris.who.int/handle/10665/204715. Accessed on 09 April 2025.

Veena K, Parammasivam KM, Venkatesh TN. Urban Heat Island studies: Current status in India and a comparison with the International studies. J Earth Syst Sci. 2020;129(1):85. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-020-1351-y

Lai LW, Cheng WL. Urban heat island and air pollution--an emerging role for hospital respiratory admissions in an urban area. J Environ Health. 2010;72(6):32-5.

Leahey DM. An Advective Model for Predicting Air Pollution within an Urban Heat Island With Applications to New York City. J Air Pollut Control Assoc. 1972;22(7):548-50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00022470.1972.10469678

Zhou D, Xiao J, Bonafoni S, Berger C, Deilami K, Zhou Y, et al. Satellite Remote Sensing of Surface Urban Heat Islands: Progress, Challenges, and Perspectives. Remote Sensing. 2019;11(1):48. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11010048

Mirzaei M, Verrelst J, Arbabi M, Shaklabadi Z, Lotfizadeh M. Urban Heat Island Monitoring and Impacts on Citizen’s General Health Status in Isfahan Metropolis: A Remote Sensing and Field Survey Approach. Remote Sens. 2020;12(8):1350. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12081350

Karimi A, Mohammad P, Gachkar S, Gachkar D, García-Martínez A, Moreno-Rangel D, et al. Surface Urban Heat Island Assessment of a Cold Desert City: A Case Study over the Isfahan Metropolitan Area of Iran. Atmosphere. 2021;12(10):1368. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12101368

Amorim MC de CT, Dubreuil V, Amorim AT. Day and night surface and atmospheric heat islands in a continental and temperate tropical environment. Urban Clim. 2021;38:100918. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2021.100918

Tong S, Prior J, McGregor G, Shi X, Kinney P. Urban heat: an increasing threat to global health. BMJ. 2021;375:n2467. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n2467

Heaviside C. Urban Heat Islands and their Associated Impacts on Health. In: In: Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.013.332

Mehrotra S, Bardhan R, Ramamritham K. Urban Informal Housing and Surface Urban Heat Island Intensity: Exploring Spatial Association in the City of Mumbai. Environ Urban ASIA. 2018;9(2):158-77. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0975425318783548

Bhowmick D, Mukherjee K, Dash P, Mondal R. Use of “Local Climate Zones” for Detecting Urban Heat Island: A Case Study of Kolkata Metropolitan Area, India. IOP Conf Ser Earth Environ Sci. 2023;1164(1):012007. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1164/1/012007

Joshi R, Raval H, Pathak M, Prajapati S, Patel A, Singh V, et al. Urban Heat Island Characterization and Isotherm Mapping Using Geo-Informatics Technology in Ahmedabad City, Gujarat State, India. Int J Geosci. 2015;6:3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/ijg.2015.63021

NITI Aayog. United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. Available at: https://www.niti.gov.in/un-high-level-political-forum. Accessed on 09 April 2025.

Cheval S, Amihăesei VA, Chitu Z, Dumitrescu A, Falcescu V, Irașoc A, et al. A systematic review of urban heat island and heat waves research (1991–2022). Clim Risk Manag. 2024;44:100603. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2024.100603

Yadav N, Rajendra K, Awasthi A, Singh C, Bhushan B. Systematic exploration of heat wave impact on mortality and urban heat island: A review from 2000 to 2022. Urban Clim. 2023;51:101622. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2023.101622

Ramly N, Hod R, Hassan MR, Arsad FS, Radi MFM, Ismail R. Impact of urban heat island on human health: a systematic review: a systematic review. Malays J Public Health Med. 2024;24(1):172-86.

Office of the Registrar General, India. Census of India 2021 – Circular No. 2. 2018. Available at: https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/40511/download/44143/ORGI_circular002_2021.pdf. Accessed on 09 April 2025.

Moola S, Munn Z, Tufunaru C, Aromataris E, Sears K, Sfetc R, et al. Systematic reviews of Aetiology and risk. In: Aromataris E, Lockwood C, Porritt K, Pilla B, Jordan Z, editors. JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis. JBI. 2024. Available at: https://jbi-global-wiki.refined.site/space/MANUAL/355598596/7.+Systematic+reviews+of+etiology+and+risk. Accessed on 09 April 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.46658/JBIMES-24-06

Varughese CS, Mani SM, Vincent V, Cherian SA, Kurian N. Exploring the impact of urban heat islands on health in India - a systematic review. PROSPERO 2024 CRD42024588528. Available at: https://www. crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=588528. Accessed on 09 April 2025.

Ouzzani M, Hammady H, Fedorowicz Z, Elmagarmid A. Rayyan—a web and mobile app for systematic reviews. Syst Rev. 2016;5:210. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-016-0384-4

Munn Z, Aromataris E, Tufanaru C, Stern C, Porritt K, Farrow J, et al. The development of software to support multiple systematic review types: the Joanna Briggs Institute System for the Unified Management, Assessment and Review of Information (JBI SUMARI). Int J Evid Based Healthc. 2019;17(1):36-43. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/XEB.0000000000000152

PRISMA statement. PRISMA 2020 flow diagram. Available at: https://www.prisma-statement.org/pri sma-2020-flow-diagram. Accessed on 09 April 2025.

Barker TH, Stone JC, Sears K, Klugar M, Tufanaru C, Leonardi-Bee J, et al. The revised JBI critical appraisal tool for the assessment of risk of bias for randomized controlled trials. JBI Evid Synth. 2023;21(3):494. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11124/JBIES-22-00434

Barker TH, Habibi N, Aromataris E, Stone JC, Leonardi-Bee J, Sears K, et al. The revised JBI critical appraisal tool for the assessment of risk of bias for quasi-experimental studies. JBI Evid Synth. 2024;22(3):378. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11124/JBIES-23-00268

JBI Critical Appraisal Tools. JBI. Available at: https://jbi.global/critical-appraisal-tools. Accessed on 09 April 2025.

GRADE handbook. Available at: https://gdt.grade pro.org/app/handbook/handbook.html. Accessed on 09 April 2025.