Umeå universitets logga

During the last two years, the electricity prices in Sweden have risen due to unstable weather conditions, recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and limited access to electricity. This has led to people finding alternative ways of heating up their residences, e.g., fireplace. The Swedish Medical Products Agency found an increase in carbon monoxide poisoning related to residential heating during 2022, which gave the topic a boost in the news and media. The aim for the study was to investigate the knowledge about carbon monoxide poisoning among Swedish house owners, and to see if there was a correlation between electricity prices and number of cases carbon monoxide poisoning in Sweden during the period 2008-2021. A paper- and web survey was conducted and sent out to 480 Swedish houseowners, selected by Postnord. Electricity prices and cases of carbon monoxide poisoning was received from the internet via Statistics Sweden and the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare. Regarding the questions covered in this study, house owners' knowledge varied. Recognition of the symptoms and prevalence of carbon monoxide poisoning was known by most of the respondents, whilst course of action in case of intoxication was not as well known. A weak positive correlation was shown between electricity prices and number of cases carbon monoxide poisoning. The increase in electricity prices and the number of cases carbon monoxide poisoning during the 2020s, would make it interesting to do further investigation.