The association of energy poverty with health, health care utilisation and medication use in southern Europe

Energy poverty (EP) is defined as the inability of a household to secure a socially and materially required level of energy services in the home. The main objective of this study was to analyse the association between EP and distinct indicators of health status, health services utilisation and medication use in southern Europe, using the city of Barcelona as a case study. A cross-sectional study was conducted using the data of the Barcelona Health Survey for 2016 (n = 3519, 53.3% women). Energy poverty was calculated according to age, country of birth and social class and the association between EP and 26 health-related indicators through prevalence ratios (PR) was analysed, and quantified the impact of EP on health at the population level by calculating the percentage of population attributable risk (PAR %). In Barcelona, 13.3% of women and 11.3% of men experienced EP.