Abstract
Background
First investigations of the interactions between weather and the incidence of acute
myocardial infarctions date back to 1938[
[1]
]. The early observation of a higher incidence of myocardial infarctions in the cold
season could be confirmed in very different geographical regions and cohorts. While
the influence of seasonal variations on the incidence of myocardial infarctions has
been extensively documented, the impact of individual meteorological parameters on
the disease has so far not been investigated systematically. Hence the present study
intended to assess the impact of the essential variables of weather and climate on
the incidence of myocardial infarctions.Methods
The daily incidence of myocardial infarctions was calculated from a national hospitalization
survey. The hourly weather and climate data were provided by the database of the national
weather forecast. The epidemiological and meteorological data were correlated by multivariate
analysis based on a generalized linear model assuming a log-link-function and a Poisson
distribution.
Results
High ambient pressure, high pressure gradients, and heavy wind activity were associated
with an increase in the incidence of the totally 6560 hospitalizations for myocardial
infarction irrespective of the geographical region. Snow- and rainfall had inconsistent
effects. Temperature, Foehn, and lightning showed no statistically significant impact.
Conclusions
Ambient pressure, pressure gradient, and wind activity had a statistical impact on
the incidence of myocardial infarctions in Switzerland from 1990 to 1994. To establish
a cause-and-effect relationship more data are needed on the interaction between the
pathophysiological mechanisms of the acute coronary syndrome and weather and climate
variables.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 10, 2006
Accepted:
June 18,
2006
Received in revised form:
June 17,
2006
Received:
August 17,
2005
Identification
Copyright
© 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
