title: The impact of winter cold weather on acute myocardial infarctions in Portugal.
abstract: Mortality due to cardiovascular diseases shows a seasonal trend that can be associated with cold weather. Portugal is the European country with the highest excess winter mortality, but nevertheless, the relationship between cold weather and health is yet to be assessed. The main aim of this study is to identify the contribution of cold weather to cardiovascular diseases within Portugal. Poisson regression analysis based on generalized additive models was applied to estimate the influence of a human-biometeorological index (PET) on daily hospitalizations for myocardial infarction. The main results revealed a negative effect of cold weather on acute myocardial infarctions in Portugal. For every degree fall in PET during winter, there was an increase of up to 2.2% (95% CI = 0.9%; 3.3%) in daily hospital admissions. This paper shows the need for public policies that will help minimize or, indeed, prevent exposure to cold.
authors: ESTM - Instituto Politécnico de Leiria, Santuário de Nossa Senhora dos Remédios, 2520-641 Peniche, Portugal; CIAUD - Centro de Investigação em Arquitectura, Urbanismo e Design, Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Pólo Universitário do Alto da Ajuda, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal; CEGOT - Centro de Estudos em Geografia e Ordenamento do Território, Faculdade de Letras, Colégio S. Jerónimo, 3004-530 Coimbra, Portugal. Electronic address: j.vasconcelos@ipleiria.pt.
authors: João
authors: J
authors: Vasconcelos
authors: Elisabete
authors: E
authors: Freire
authors: Ricardo
authors: R
authors: Almendra
authors: Giovani L
authors: GL
authors: Silva
authors: Paula
authors: P
authors: Santana
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D057231:Climate Change; D003080:Cold Temperature / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011174:Portugal / Q000453:epidemiology; D012621:Seasons
keywords: Acute myocardial infarction; Cold weather; Morbidity; Physiological equivalent temperature; Portugal