title: Influence of weather on emergency transport events coded as stroke: population-based study in Japan.
abstract: Studying the relation between incidence of stroke and weather is difficult because it requires large-scale community-based data collection. Despite the lack of strong evidence that weather conditions influence stroke incidence, many clinicians feel that meteorological conditions influence the onset of stroke. This study examined whether emergency events related to stroke are influenced by meteorological factors and was based on computerized records of emergency medical transport services in a Japanese city during the period January 1992-December 2003. A total of 53,585 patients transported for an event coded as stroke were analyzed in relation to meteorological factors such as temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure. Poisson regression analysis was applied to clarify the influence of daily meteorological conditions on the daily incidence of emergency transport due to events coded as stroke. Ordinary least squares regression analysis was used to evaluate the influence of weather, defined as the combination of meteorological parameters, on the occurrence of emergency transport due to events coded as stroke. Daily mean ambient temperature and daily mean relative humidity showed a statistically significant negative effect on the incidence of the emergency transport events for both men and women (P<0.001). Daily mean barometric pressure was not significantly related to these events. The occurrence of a holiday was negatively related to the incidence (P<0.001). Dry weather and cool weather were likely to shift the circadian curve of the incidence upward. Thus, occurrence of emergency transport due to events coded as stroke is likely to be associated with weather conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Yokohama City University School of Medicine, 3-9 Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, 236-0004, Yokohama, Japan. kenoh@med.yokohama-cu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohshige
authors.forename: Yuta
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hori
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tochikubo
authors.forename: Mitsugi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sugiyama
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001274:Atmospheric Pressure; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006813:Humidity; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008685:Meteorological Concepts; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012621:Seasons; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D014887:Weather