TY - JOUR
T1 - Seasonal variation in ischemic stroke incidence and association with climate
T2 - A six-year population-based study
AU - Lee, Hsin Chien
AU - Hu, Chaur Jong
AU - Chen, Chin Shyan
AU - Lin, Herng Ching
N1 - Funding Information:
This study is supported by Dr. Huang Chihsin Stroke Research Center, Taipei Medical University. This study is based in part on data from the National Health Insurance Research Database provided by the Bureau of National Health Insurance, Department of Health and managed by the National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan. The interpretations and conclusions contained herein do not represent those of the Bureau of National Health Insurance, Department of Health, or the National Health Research Institutes.
PY - 2008/11
Y1 - 2008/11
N2 - Questions about the seasonality of stroke remain controversial. Using a nationwide population-based dataset, this study presents a time series analysis of seasonal patterns in ischemic stroke occurrence, along with their association with climate in Taiwan. Using data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, a total of 168,977 visits to emergency departments between 1998 and 2003 for ischemic stroke were identified for patients ranging between 20 and 84 yrs of age. Monthly stroke incidences were calculated for 72 months, by sex and stroke subtype, and for the age groups 20-54, 55-64, 65-74, and ≥75 yrs per 100,000 of the population. We performed auto-regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) analysis to investigate the presence of seasonality and any association with climate for acute ischemic stroke events. We found no significant seasonal variation in the incidence of ischemic stroke for any age or sex groups. Furthermore, after adjusting for seasonality, month, and trend, the ARIMA regression model revealed only associations between ischemic stroke incidence and atmospheric pressure. We conclude that seasonality of ischemic stroke does not exist in Taiwan. Ischemic stroke incidence is, however, significantly related to atmospheric pressure.
AB - Questions about the seasonality of stroke remain controversial. Using a nationwide population-based dataset, this study presents a time series analysis of seasonal patterns in ischemic stroke occurrence, along with their association with climate in Taiwan. Using data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, a total of 168,977 visits to emergency departments between 1998 and 2003 for ischemic stroke were identified for patients ranging between 20 and 84 yrs of age. Monthly stroke incidences were calculated for 72 months, by sex and stroke subtype, and for the age groups 20-54, 55-64, 65-74, and ≥75 yrs per 100,000 of the population. We performed auto-regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) analysis to investigate the presence of seasonality and any association with climate for acute ischemic stroke events. We found no significant seasonal variation in the incidence of ischemic stroke for any age or sex groups. Furthermore, after adjusting for seasonality, month, and trend, the ARIMA regression model revealed only associations between ischemic stroke incidence and atmospheric pressure. We conclude that seasonality of ischemic stroke does not exist in Taiwan. Ischemic stroke incidence is, however, significantly related to atmospheric pressure.
KW - Climate
KW - Ischemic stroke
KW - Seasonality
KW - Taiwan
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U2 - 10.1080/07420520802551469
DO - 10.1080/07420520802551469
M3 - Article
C2 - 19005897
AN - SCOPUS:56249102825
SN - 0742-0528
VL - 25
SP - 938
EP - 949
JO - Chronobiology International
JF - Chronobiology International
IS - 6
ER -