Intracerebral hemorrhage and meteorological factors in chongqing, in the Southwest of China

Abstract

Studies have reported the relationship between intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and meteorological factors. However, few of those study analyses were dependent on daily meteorological factors. The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between various meteorological data and ICH cases from Chongqing, in the southwest of China. One thousand nineteen intracerebral hemorrhage events registered in our hospital were recorded from 1 January 2006 to 30 August 2009. Meteorological parameters were analyzed, including season, month, air temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, visibility, presence of fog, and wind velocity. The chi-square test for goodness of fit was used for statistical evaluations. Significant differences in seasonal and monthly patterns of ICH onset were observed. The incidence of ICH attack was highest in winter and lowest in summer (p < 0.0001). The monthly variation was consistent with the above pattern (p = 0.002). Daily air temperature (p < 0.0001), humidity (p = 0.002), and atmospheric pressure (p < 0.0001) were associated with the admission rate. However, no significant relationships were found between visibility (p = 0.62), presence of fog (p = 0.32), or wind velocity (P = 0.5) and the risk of ICH. Our study demonstrates that the incidence of ICH is closely related to some meteorological factors, such as season, daily air temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure. © 2011 Springer-Verlag/Wien.