Weather, chinook, and stroke occurrence

Abstract

Background - Changes in weather and season have been linked to stroke occurrence. However, the association has been inconsistent across stroke types. Calgary is a city in the Chinook belt and is subject to high variability in weather conditions. Methods - We obtained hourly weather data over a 5-year period from 1996 to 2000; Chinook events were identified according to the accepted definition. We reviewed administrative data to determine stroke occurrence and defined stroke types to maximize specificity of diagnosis. To examine the hypothesis that weather affected the number of strokes occurring in a given day, we compared average daily stroke occurrence on Chinook days and non-Chinook days; we compared mean daily temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, and wind speed by the number of strokes occurring on any given day. Results - Annual variation in stroke frequency was observed. No seasonal, monthly, or weekly variation in overall stroke occurrence or occurrence by type was evident. No relationship with changes in weather parameters was observed. Conclusions - We found no association between weather changes and stroke occurrence. A cause-and-effect relationship between weather and stroke occurrence is dubious because of a lack of consistency across studies.