The number of emergency department visits for psychiatric emergencies is strongly associated with mean temperature and humidity variations. Results of a nine year survey

Abstract

Several disorders, such as renal colics, stroke, atrial fibrillation and others, are epidemiologically associated with seasonality and microclimatic variations. Although evidence is still limited, an association between psychiatric emergencies and seasonality has also been previously described. In order to elucidate the possible association between weather and incidence of psychiatric emergencies in a country with temperate climate, we analyzed the influence of day by day climate changes on the number of visits for psychiatric emergencies in an urban emergency department (ED) of northern Italy. All ED visits for psychiatric emergencies were retrieved from the hospital database from 2002 to 2010. The total number of ED visits was 725,812 throughout the study period, 11,786 of which for emergency psychiatric problems. We found a strong seasonal distribution of emergency psychiatric visits, peaking in summer and at the beginning of spring. The linear regression analysis showed a strong positive association between number of daily emergency psychiatric visits and mean daily air temperature (R=0.82; P<0.001), and an inverse association with mean daily air humidity (R=-0.52; P<0.001). These findings suggest that psychiatric disorders follow a significant seasonal variation, so that it may be advisable to strengthen psychiatric emergency services during the hottest months.

Incidence of primary spontaneous pneumothorax is not associated with microclimatic variations. Results of a seven-year survey in a temperate climate area

“…Several studies, with different strength of evidence, showed that some associations may exist between meteorological variables and different clinical conditions such as stroke [13], myocardial infarction [14], renal colic [15], atrial fibrillation [16], asthma [17], epistaxis [18], and arthritic pain [19]. Psychiatric emergencies are also influenced by climatic variables, although with variable degrees of strength and evidence [20,21]. It has also been suggested that SP episodes seem to occur in clusters, and in this respect, a correlation between incidence of SP and meteorological variations has been put forward, but the current evidence is scarce and somewhat contradictory [22][23][24].…”

The Impacts of Air Temperature on Accidental Casualties in Beijing, China

“…The occupants’ physiology, perceptions and mental alertness were also reported to be related to air temperature [33]. A nine-year survey found that the number of emergency psychiatric visits peaks in summer, and a strong positive association between the number of daily emergency psychiatric visits and mean daily air temperature (R = 0.82; p < 0.001) was shown in linear regression analysis [13]. Another study reported that fine weather conditions may increase the rate of fatal self-harm deaths, probably interacting with biological and social variables [14].…”

“…Traffic accidents and self-harming events also belong to IPEC-classified casualties, which are more likely to occur during certain weather conditions. Weather conditions not only affect the environment (e.g., road conditions), but also influence people’s physical condition as well as their mental status (e.g., emotions, reaction time, activity levels) [13,14]. It is therefore difficult to determine whether a patient’s health problems were directly caused by environmental conditions.…”

Impact on human health of climate changes

“…For instance, a series of studies has documented an association between mean temperature and humidity variations and the number of visits to the emergency department for atrial fibrillation [75], renal colics [76] and psychiatric emergencies [77].…”