Telfer Scott, Obradovich Nick
Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, United States of America.
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2017 Aug 9;12(8):e0181266. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0181266. eCollection 2017.
Weather conditions are commonly believed to influence musculoskeletal pain, however the evidence for this is mixed. This study aimed to examine the relationship between local meteorological conditions and online search trends for terms related to knee pain, hip pain, and arthritis. Five years of relative online search volumes for these terms were obtained for the 50 most populous cities in the contiguous United States, along with corresponding local weather data for temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, and precipitation. Methods from the climate econometrics literature were used to assess the casual impact of these meteorological variables on the relative volumes of searches for pain. For temperatures between -5°C and 30°C, search volumes for hip pain increased by 12 index points, and knee pain increased by 18 index points. Precipitation had a negative effect on search volumes for these terms. At temperatures >30°C, search volumes for arthritis related pain decreased by 7 index points. These patterns were not seen for pain searches unrelated to the musculoskeletal system. In summary, selected local weather conditions are significantly associated with online search volumes for specific musculoskeletal pain symptoms. We believe the predominate driver for this to be the relative changes in physical activity levels associated with meteorological conditions.
人们普遍认为天气状况会影响肌肉骨骼疼痛，然而相关证据却参差不齐。本研究旨在探讨当地气象条件与膝关节疼痛、髋关节疼痛及关节炎相关术语的在线搜索趋势之间的关系。我们获取了美国本土50个人口最多城市这五年间这些术语的相对在线搜索量，以及相应的当地天气数据，包括温度、相对湿度、气压和降水量。我们采用气候计量经济学文献中的方法来评估这些气象变量对疼痛搜索相对量的偶然影响。在-5°C至30°C之间的温度范围内，髋关节疼痛的搜索量增加了12个指数点，膝关节疼痛的搜索量增加了18个指数点。降水对这些术语的搜索量有负面影响。在温度>30°C时，与关节炎相关疼痛的搜索量下降了7个指数点。在与肌肉骨骼系统无关的疼痛搜索中未观察到这些模式。总之，特定的当地天气状况与特定肌肉骨骼疼痛症状的在线搜索量显著相关。我们认为，造成这种情况的主要驱动因素是与气象条件相关的身体活动水平的相对变化。
