Evidences on adaptive mechanisms for cardiorespiratory diseases regarding extreme temperatures and air pollution: A comparative systematic review

Abstract

Abstract The negative cardiorespiratory health outcomes due to extreme temperatures and air pollution are widely studied, but knowledge about the effectiveness of the implementation of adaptive mechanisms remains unclear. The objective of this paper is to explore the evidence of adaptive mechanisms for cardiorespiratory diseases regarding extreme temperatures and air pollution by comparing the results of two systematic literature review (SLR) processes sharing the same initial research question but led by two research groups with different academic backgrounds working in the same multidisciplinary team. We start by presenting the methodological procedures and the results of the SLR triggered by the research group mainly composed by researchers with a background in geography (named geographical strategy). We then compare these results with those achieved in the SLR led by the research group with a background in epidemiology (named epidemiological strategy). Both SLR were developed under the EU Horizon 2020 Project “EXHAUSTION”. The results showed: 1) the lack of evidence regarding the effectiveness of adaptation measures, namely due to the limited number of studies about the topic, the preponderance of studies dedicated to heat extremes or the unbalance between different adaptation measures; 2) that the choice of search terms in the geographical strategy, despite being more comprehensive at first sight, ended up retrieving less results, but it brought new studies that can complement the results of the epidemiological strategy. Therefore, it is suggested that to strengthen the empirical evidence of the effectiveness of adaptation measures, powerful multidisciplinary teams should work together in the preparation of SLR in topics of great complexity, such as the one presented in this paper.