Concern is growing about the number of elderly people dying of hypothermia. A register was compiled of patients over 75 on a general practitioner's list who were identified from their medical records as being at risk of hypothermia, having two or more established risk factors. Twenty four patients from this register were visited early in winter by a doctor to discuss how hypothermia could be prevented. They were then revisited during very cold weather to see whether they had made any changes.

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... veral improvements to heating arrangements were noted, but the median temperature in the bedrooms of houses with no central heating was 10TC below the World Health Organisation's recommended temperature. In addition, eight patients were not visited daily. Even with media publicity and visits from carers and a doctor, 17 of the 24 elderly people studied continued to live in an environment in which they were at risk of developing hypothermia. cases the air temperature at floor level by the head of the patient's bed on the side from which he or she normally alighted was measured with an alcohol thermometer between 8 30 am and 11 30 am. 125 Newmarket Road, Cambridge CB5 8HA CATHERINE J OTTY, MB, BCH, trainee general practitioner M 0 ROLAND, MRCGP, MFCM, general practitioner