During 2022, excess mortality occurred worldwide, in many cases only surpassed by the excess in 2020, a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This excess mortality in 2022 was attributed not only to the direct and indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic but also to those of extreme heat episodes, such as heat waves, exceptional in the summer of 2022. However, while that between 31 and 37% of the excess deaths in the Summer of 2022 were attributed to COVID-19, only 22.92%, in Spain, and 16.22% in Catalonia, were directly attributed to extreme heat . We believe it is very likely that there are other indirect effects of the pandemic. There could have been a shift in deaths due to a combination of a worsening of chronic diseases as a result of COVID-19 and/or a lack of control of these, and a lack of diagnosis or a diagnosis, and therefore, a later control in some of these chronic diseases.

In this project we aim to analyze the geographical variability of the effect of extreme heat episodes on mortality in Catalonia, particularly in the summer of 2022, as well as estimate what part of the excess can be attributed to extreme heat, the direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 and other causes, particularly during 2022.