Anita Yuan, M.P.H., of the University of California, Los Angeles, found the connection in her work on the environmental factors that may have affected death rates in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles between 1977 and 1998. She reported the results at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association on Nov. 18.

Yuan suggested the deaths among men may be partially related to a “snow shovel” effect, where cold weather means more snow and more cardiovascular exertion while digging out of the drifts. She hopes to test this idea with a closer comparison of death rates in Los Angeles and the two Northern cities.

Increases in unemployment rates from year to year were also linked to higher rates of premature deaths among women and men in each city. Death rates for black women and men were higher in all cities, but the disparity between black and white premature deaths was especially prominent in Chicago, Yuan said.

For more briefs from the APHA meeting in San Francisco, go to here.