The influence of foehn winds on the incidence of severe injuries in southern Bavaria – an analysis of the TraumaRegister DGU®

Abstract

Background: Foehn describes a wind which occurs in areas with close proximity to mountains. The presence of foehn wind is associated with worsening health conditions. This study analyzes the correlation between a foehn typical circulation and the incidence for suffering a severe trauma. Methods: This is a retrospective, multicentre observational register study. The years from 2013 to 2016 were analyzed for the presence of foehn winds. A logistic regression analysis with the number of daily admitted trauma patients as the primary target value was performed in dependence of foehn winds. Southern Bavaria is a typical foehn wind region. Individuals were treated in 37 hospitals of Southern Bavaria which participate in the TraumaRegister DGU®, an international register that includes all severe trauma patients, mainly in Germany. We analyzed patients with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) of at least nine with admission to intensive care units or prior death in the emergency room. Results: 6215 patients were enrolled in this study. A foehn-typical circulation was present on 65 days (4.5%). 301 patients (5%) suffered a trauma with an ISS ≥ 9 on a foehn day. The mean ISS was 20.2 (9-75). On average, 4.3 patients (0-15 patients) were admitted on a daily basis due to a severe trauma. The multivariate regression analysis revealed a daily increase of 0.87 individuals (p = 0.004; 95% CI 0.23-1.47) on foehn days. During spring 1.07 patients (p = < 0.001; 95% CI 0.72-1.42), in summer 1.98 patients (p = < 0.001; 95% CI 1.63-2.32), in fall 0.63 (p = < 0.001; 95% CI 0.28-0.97) and on Saturdays, 0.59 patients (p = < 0.001; 95% CI 0.24-0.93) were additionally admitted due to severe trauma.

The Impact of Foehn Wind on Mental Distress among Patients in a Swiss Psychiatric Hospital

“…Foehn wind is a well-known phenomenon in the Swiss Alpine region, generating a warm, dry, and often severe wind on the leeward downwind side of the mountain, descending from the crest into the valley, and reaching hurricane force wind speeds of 117 km/h (maximum exceeding 200 km/h) [ 24 ]. This meteorological phenomenon can be found all over the world in high mountain regions, such as ‘Halny’ in Poland or ‘Chinook’ in North America [ 25 ].…”

“…Although research remains scarce, foehn wind has been associated with a large variety of worsening health conditions, frequently labeled as ‘foehn illness’ [ 25 , 26 ]. These symptoms include migraine and headaches, joint pain, wound pain, sleep disorders, fatigue, concentration problems, anxiety, nausea, paresthesia, an increase in aggressiveness, agitation, depressive states, and suicide attempts [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ].…”

The Impact of Foehn Wind on Mental Distress among Patients in a Swiss Psychiatric Hospital

“…These symptoms include migraine and headaches, joint pain, wound pain, sleep disorders, fatigue, concentration problems, anxiety, nausea, paresthesia, an increase in aggressiveness, agitation, depressive states, and suicide attempts [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. Recently, Greve, et al [25] detected an increase in trauma-related hospital admissions on days with foehn. Some studies have found no effects on health conditions [29,35,36] or even relief of neuropathic pain during Chinook winds [37].…”

Universal thermal climate index associations with mortality, hospital admissions, and road accidents in Bavaria

“…Thus, it is necessary to consider seasonal variations to understand the impact of weather conditions for health services [ 23 ]. In addition to temperature, other meteorological parameters for predicting morbidity and mortality are solar radiation, humidity, wind speed, precipitation, and foehn [ 4 , 6 , 8 , 24 , 25 ]. Following extreme weather events, there is an increased demand for emergency services and an increased mortality risk [ 2 , 26 ].…”

“…Temperature extremes induced higher mortality rates among the elderly [ 50 ] and higher cardiovascular mortality [ 51 ]. Also, ambulance activity in Munich was affected by temperature, humidity, sunshine, and precipitation [ 4 ], and severe trauma by foehn winds [ 25 ]. However, the influence of weather conditions on traffic accidents has not yet been studied at all.…”