Winter air -mass-based synoptic climatological approach and hospital admissions for myocardial infarction in Florence, Italy

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the risk of hospital admission for myocardial infarction (MI) and the daily weather conditions during the winters of 1998–2003, according to an air-mass-based synoptic climatological approach. The effects of time lag and 2-day sequences...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental research 2006-09, Vol.102 (1), p.52-60
Main Authors: Morabito, Marco, Crisci, Alfonso, Grifoni, Daniele, Orlandini, Simone, Cecchi, Lorenzo, Bacci, Laura, Modesti, Pietro Amedeo, Gensini, Gian Franco, Maracchi, Giampiero
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Anticyclonic
Biological and medical sciences
Cardiology. Vascular system
Cluster Analysis
Coronary heart disease
Cyclonic
Heart
Hospitalization
Humans
Italy - epidemiology
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial Infarction - epidemiology
Myocardial Infarction - pathology
Myocarditis. Cardiomyopathies
Principal Component Analysis
Seasons
Statistics, Nonparametric
Time lag
Weather
Weather type
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the risk of hospital admission for myocardial infarction (MI) and the daily weather conditions during the winters of 1998–2003, according to an air-mass-based synoptic climatological approach. The effects of time lag and 2-day sequences with specific air mass types were also investigated. Studies concerning the relationship between atmospheric conditions and human health need to take into consideration simultaneous effects of many weather variables. At the moment few studies have surveyed these effects on hospitalizations for MI. Analyses were concentrated on winter, when the maximum peak of hospitalization occurred. An objective daily air mass classification by means of statistical analyses based on ground meteorological data was carried out. A comparison between air mass classification and hospital admissions was made by the calculation of a MI admission index, and to detect significant relationships the Mann–Whitney U test, the analysis of variance, and the Bonferroni test were used. Significant increases in hospital admissions for MI were evident 24 h after a day characterized by an anticyclonic continental air mass and 6 days after a day characterized by a cyclonic air mass. Increased risk of hospitalization was found even when specific 2-day air mass sequences occurred. These results represent an important step in identifying reliable linkages between weather and health.
ISSN:0013-9351
1096-0953
DOI:10.1016/j.envres.2005.12.007