Department of Water Resources and Climatology, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland.
School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 May 20;770:145376. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145376. Epub 2021 Jan 23.
The association of fainting with specific situations and circumstances, such as the sight of blood, response to pain, prolonged standing position and fatigue, is well recognized and described in medical literature. Clinical experience also indicates that specific, local physical conditions, such as exposure to heat or remaining in a small, stuffy room may also trigger fainting. This paper verifies the hypothesis concerning the association between atmospheric conditions and the incidence of fainting. This is a retrospective cohort study of data relating to fainting collected in the city of Olsztyn (Poland). In total, 10,449 emergency service interventions in the period 2012-2019 that concluded with the R55 (syncope and collapse) diagnosis according to the ICD 10 were analyzed. The obtained data were matched with meteorological data, including basic parameters (temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure) and complex parameters, with special attention given to the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI). This index is derived from an analysis of human thermal balance and is particularly useful for describing the organism's response to thermal stress. Statistically significant differences in the occurrences of fainting depending on the season were revealed (more in the summer), but only for women. Among the analyzed meteorological and biometeorological parameters, statistical significance was found for parameters relating to temperature, with the greatest usefulness revealed for the UTCI. Periods with heat stress were more conducive to fainting, whereas the result for the general population was influenced by women in two age groups: 25-45 and 46-60. To our best knowledge, this is the first attempt worldwide to utilize the UTCI as a predictor of fainting. Our results confirmed the applicability of the UTCI as a universal biometeorological tool for the assessment of relationships between atmospheric conditions and the incidence of fainting.
晕厥与特定情况和环境的关联，如看到血液、对疼痛的反应、长时间站立和疲劳，在医学文献中得到了很好的认识和描述。临床经验也表明，特定的局部身体状况，如暴露在高温下或呆在狭小、闷热的房间里，也可能引发晕厥。本文验证了大气条件与晕厥发生率之间关联的假设。这是一项对波兰奥尔什丁市收集的晕厥相关数据进行的回顾性队列研究。在 2012 年至 2019 年期间，共分析了 10449 次紧急服务干预事件，这些事件根据 ICD 10 以 R55（晕厥和昏迷）诊断结束。获得的数据与气象数据相匹配，包括基本参数（温度、湿度、大气压）和复杂参数，特别关注通用热气候指数（UTCI）。该指数源自对人体热平衡的分析，对于描述生物体对热应激的反应特别有用。结果表明，晕厥的发生与季节有关，存在统计学差异（夏季更多），但仅限于女性。在所分析的气象和生物气象参数中，与温度相关的参数具有统计学意义，其中 UTCI 的实用性最大。热应激期更容易发生晕厥，而对于一般人群，结果受两个年龄组的女性影响：25-45 岁和 46-60 岁。据我们所知，这是全球首次尝试将 UTCI 用作晕厥预测因子。我们的结果证实了 UTCI 作为评估大气条件与晕厥发生率之间关系的通用生物气象工具的适用性。
