Daylight Saving Time transitions and Cardiovascular Disease in Andalusia: Time Series Modeling and Analysis Using Visibility Graphs

Abstract

The present study aimed to determine whether transitions both to and from daylight saving time (DST) led to an increase in the incidence of hospital admissions for major acute cardiovascular events (MACE). To support the analysis, natural visibility graphs (NVGs) were used with data from Andalusian public hospitals between 2009 and 2019. We calculated the incidence rates of hospital admissions for MACE, and specifically acute myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke during the 2 weeks leading up to, and 2 weeks after, the DST transition. NVG were applied to identify dynamic patterns. The study included 157 221 patients diagnosed with MACE, 71 992 with AMI (42 975 ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and 26 752 non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI)), and 51 420 with ischemic stroke. Observed/expected ratios shown an increased risk of AMI (1.06; 95% CI (1.00–1.11); P = .044), NSTEMI (1.12; 95% CI (1.02–1.22); P = .013), and acute coronary syndrome (1.05; 95% CI (1.00–1.10); P = .04) around the autumn DST. The NVG showed slight variations in the daily pattern of pre-DST and post-DST hospitalization admissions for all pathologies, but indicated that the increase in the incidence of hospital admissions after the DST is not sufficient to change the normal pattern significantly.

Sample size bias in the empirical assessment of the acute risks associated with daylight saving time transitions

“…We did not include in our meta-analysis research studies on road traffic accidents where IR was not reported (Lahti et al 2010) (Finland) or N was unavailable (Molina et al 2022) (Florida, USA). Likewise, we did not consider research studies where the window of time was longer than 1 week (Rodríguez-Cortés et al 2022;Singh et al 2022) since they do not necessarily account for acute effects.…”