Hae Jeong Lee1, Mi Hyeon Jin2, Jun Hwa Lee3. 1. Department of Pediatrics, Samsung Changwon Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Changwon, Republic of Korea. 2. Department of Biostatistics, Samsung Changwon Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Changwon, Republic of Korea. 3. Department of Pediatrics, Samsung Changwon Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Changwon, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: ljh3643@hanmail.net.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: It is widely believed that patients are less likely to visit hospitals during bad weather. We hypothesized that weather and emergency department (ED) visits are associated. Thus, we investigated the association between pediatric ED visits and weather, and sought to determine whether admissions to the ED are affected by meteorological factors. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed all 87,242 emergency visits to Samsung Changwon Hospital by pediatric patients under 19years of age from January 2005 to December 2014. ED visits were categorized by disease. We used Poisson regression and generalized linear model to examine the relationships between current weather and ED visits. Additionally a distributed lag non-linear model was used to investigate the effect of weather on ED visits. RESULTS: During this 10-year study period, the average temperature and diurnal temperature range (DTR) were 14.7°C and 8.2°C, respectively. There were 1,145days of rain or snow (31.4%) during the 3,652-day study period. The volume of ED visits decreased on days of rain or snow. Additionally ED visits increased 2days after rainy or snowy days. The volume of ED visits increased 1.013 times with every 1°C increase in DTR. The volume of ED visits by patients with trauma, digestive diseases, and respiratory diseases increased when DTR was over 10°C. As rainfall increased to over 25mm, the ward admission rate (23.8%, p=0.018) of ED patients increased significantly. CONCLUSION: The volume of ED visits decreased on days of rain or snow and the ED visits were increased 2days after rainy or snowy days. The volume of ED visits increased for every 1°C increase in DTR.
BACKGROUND: It is widely believed that patients are less likely to visit hospitals during bad weather. We hypothesized that weather and emergency department (ED) visits are associated. Thus, we investigated the association between pediatric ED visits and weather, and sought to determine whether admissions to the ED are affected by meteorological factors. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed all 87,242 emergency visits to Samsung Changwon Hospital by pediatric patients under 19years of age from January 2005 to December 2014. ED visits were categorized by disease. We used Poisson regression and generalized linear model to examine the relationships between current weather and ED visits. Additionally a distributed lag non-linear model was used to investigate the effect of weather on ED visits. RESULTS: During this 10-year study period, the average temperature and diurnal temperature range (DTR) were 14.7°C and 8.2°C, respectively. There were 1,145days of rain or snow (31.4%) during the 3,652-day study period. The volume of ED visits decreased on days of rain or snow. Additionally ED visits increased 2days after rainy or snowy days. The volume of ED visits increased 1.013 times with every 1°C increase in DTR. The volume of ED visits by patients with trauma, digestive diseases, and respiratory diseases increased when DTR was over 10°C. As rainfall increased to over 25mm, the ward admission rate (23.8%, p=0.018) of ED patients increased significantly. CONCLUSION: The volume of ED visits decreased on days of rain or snow and the ED visits were increased 2days after rainy or snowy days. The volume of ED visits increased for every 1°C increase in DTR.
Authors: Bradley M Dennis; David P Stonko; Rachael A Callcut; Richard A Sidwell; Nicole A Stassen; Mitchell J Cohen; Bryan A Cotton; Oscar D Guillamondegui Journal: J Trauma Acute Care Surg Date: 2019-07 Impact factor: 3.313
Authors: David P Stonko; Bradley M Dennis; Rachael A Callcut; Richard D Betzold; Michael C Smith; Andrew J Medvecz; Oscar D Guillamondegui Journal: PLoS One Date: 2018-12-03 Impact factor: 3.240