Trauma Admissions and the Weather

In a cross-sectional study of nearly 60,000 patients who presented to 21 emergency departments in the U.K. from 1996 through 2006, investigators used multivariate regression analysis to assess the influence of weather variables on trauma admission rates.

With each 5°C rise in maximum daily temperature and each additional 2 hours of sunshine, adult trauma admissions increased by 1.8% and 1.9%, respectively, and pediatric admissions increased by 10% and 6%, respectively. Adult trauma admissions increased by 7.9% with snow or sleet, 2.2% with each additional 10 mm of rainfall, and 3.2% with each drop of 5°C in the minimum daily temperature. Pediatric trauma admissions decreased 13% with wind speeds of 20 mph over the mean wind speed and were 70…