Weather as physiologically equivalent was not associated with ischemic stroke onsets in Vienna, 2004-2010.

Weather as physiologically equivalent was not associated with ischemic stroke onsets in Vienna, 2004-2010. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2015 Apr 16; Authors: Ferrari J, Shiue I, Seyfang L, Matzarakis A, Lang W, Austrian Stroke Registry Collaborators Abstract Stroke rates were found to have seasonal variations. However, previous studies using air temperature, humidity, or air pressure separately were not adequate, and the study catchment was not clearly drawn. Therefore, here we proposed to use a thermal index called physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) that incorporates air temperature, humidity, wind speed, cloud cover, air pressure and radiation flux from a biometeorological approach to estimate the effect of weather as physiologically equivalent on ischemic stroke onsets in an Austrian population. Eight thousand four hundred eleven stroke events in Vienna registered within the Austrian Stroke Unit Register from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2010 were included and were correlated with the weather data, obtained from the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics in the same area and study time period and calculated as PET (°C). Statistical analysis involved Poisson regression modeling. The median age was 74 years, and men made up 49 % of the entire population. Eighty percent had hypertension while 25.4 % were current smokers. Of note, 26.5 % had diabetes mellitus, 28.9 % had pre-stroke, and 11.5 % had pre-myo...
Source: Environmental Science and Pollution Research International - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Environ Sci Pollut Res Int Source Type: research