Seasonality of ER Admissions in Northwestern Pennsylvania: A Cross-Sectional Study
2016
Seasonality, in the context of emergency room (ER) admissions, can be described as the periodic
incidence of disease, corresponding to seasons, or other pre-established calendar periods. Respiratory
diseases, in general, show a seasonal pattern with incidence peak at the winter season,
however research still presents a considerable amount of inconsistency. Incidence of cardiovascular
diseases (CVD) is also very well linked to the cold season. Gastrointestinal, genitourinary
and neurological diseases are poorly studied in regards their seasonal patterns. This study aimed
to assess seasonality of the five categories of diseases–respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal,
genitourinary, and neurological-using data from a community hospital in northwestern PA. We
analyzed 14 years (2000-2014) of data from the Meadville Medical Center (MMC) ER admissions.
For each ER admission case, we had information about ICD-9 code, sex, insurance, race, age and
date, time and year of admission. Statistical analyses were performed using SAS 9.4 University
version software. We found significantly fewer cases of respiratory diseases in spring (OR = 0.757),
summer (OR = 0.579), and fall (OR = 0.741), when comparing to the winter season; however, seasonal
differences were not found for cardiovascular, genitourinary, and neurological diseases. The
implications of these results will primarily be used to improve Meadville’s public health policies
for cold seasons, and more specifically, implement programs that prepare the ER to receive and
treat respiratory cases more efficiently in the cold season.
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