Does Weather Matter? The Effect of Weather Patterns and Temporal Factors on Pediatric Orthopedic Trauma Volume

Abstract

Objectives:Orthopaedists often speculate how weather and school schedule may influence pediatric orthopedic trauma volume, but few studies have examined this. This study aims to determine: how do weather patterns, day, month, season and public school schedule influence the daily frequency of pediatric orthopedic trauma consults and admissions?Methods:With IRB approval, orthopedic trauma data from a level 1 pediatric trauma center, including number of daily orthopedic trauma consults and admissions, were collected from July 2009 to March 2012. Historical weather data (high temperatures, precipitation and hours of daylight), along with local public school schedule data were collected for the same time period. Univariate and multivariate regression models were used to show the average number of orthopedic trauma consults and admissions as a function of weather and temporal variables.Results:High temperature, precipitation, month and day of the week significantly affected the number of daily consults and admissions. The number of consults and admissions increased by 1% for each degree increase in temperature (p=0.001 and p<0.001, respectively), and decreased by 21% for each inch of precipitation (p<0.001, p=0.006). Daily consults on snowy days decreased by an additional 16% compared to days with no precipitation. November had the lowest daily consult and admission rate, while September had the highest. Daily consult rate was lowest on Wednesdays and highest on Saturdays. Holiday schedule was not independently significant.Conclusion:Pediatric orthopedic trauma consultations and admissions are highly linked to temperature and precipitation, as well as day of the week and time of year.

Artificial neural networks can predict trauma volume and acuity regardless of center size and geography: A multicenter study

“…(1,4,5) Previous studies have attempted to identify patterns in trauma volume based on temporal and weather-related variations. (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31) Using retrospective data, temporal and weather-related trends have been identified. Nights and weekends have been associated with higher admission rates, injury severity and need for emergent operation.…”

The Effect of Season and Weather on Orthopaedic Trauma: Consult Volume Is Significantly Correlated with Daily Weather

“…A similar trend has been demonstrated in distal radius fractures [ 20 , 23 ]. Pediatric orthopedic injuries, on the other hand, have been shown to increase with warm temperatures and decrease with significant precipitation [ 15 ]. Unfortunately, the current literature on adult orthopaedic trauma is limited to only a handful of specific fracture types.…”

“…Unfortunately, the current literature on adult orthopaedic trauma is limited to only a handful of specific fracture types. To our knowledge, only one study has examined the effect of weather metrics on orthopedic consult volume and this was in a pediatric population [ 15 ]; however, no similar study exists in adults.…”

Seasonal variation in orthopedic trauma patients—An experience from central India

“…Orthopedic surgeons usually hypothesize how environment variables and public working schedule may influence orthopedic injury or trauma quantity, but only certain studies have formulated this. 1 Trauma has its own natural history and follows the same epidemic pattern as any other disease that is an agent, the host and the environment interacting together to produce injury or damage. They occur more frequently in certain age group, at certain times of day and the week and at certain localities, for example, a warm and sunny summer weekend may keep orthopedic trauma surgeons busy, while a cold winter day may yield a lighter workload.…”