The influence of the sun, moon, climate and economic conditions on crisis incidence.
Investigated the relationship between 2,344 cases of crisis incidence over a 1-year period (1976) and geophysical, climatic and seasonal conditions. Results revealed an intricate interactive effect between the variables of sex, nature of crisis, period of analysis, and environmental conditions. Males crisis became more likely, with downward economic trends or decreased solar activity. In contrast to female incidence of crisis, which peaked in spring, that of males peaked in autumn. Increased solar activity was related strongly to the incidence of crisis experienced by people who were retarded, abused drugs and were guilty of assault and/or rape. The waxing of the moon was related closely to cases of assault and/or rape, while retardates were influenced further by the moisture content in the air. Temporal considerations revealed a positive relationship between full moon and crisis incidence on alternate months only. Generally, the increased cloud cover, rainfall and temperature in summer, gave rise to more crisis consultations. Finally, geophysical, climatic and economic conditions also were seen to act in conjunction with each other to influence crisis incidence.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D055580:Astronomical Phenomena; D001256:Astronomy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002980:Climate; D004630:Emergencies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010507:Periodicity; D012621:Seasons; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013019:South Africa