High average daily temperature in summer and the incidence of thrombolytic treatment for acute ischemic stroke

András Folyovich; Réka Mátis; Dávid Biczó; Mihály Pálosi; Anna K Béres-Molnár; Nadim Al-Muhanna; Tamás Jarecsny; Eszter Dudás; Dorottya Jánoska; Gergely Toldi; Anna Páldy

doi:10.1016/j.encep.2023.09.004

High average daily temperature in summer and the incidence of thrombolytic treatment for acute ischemic stroke

Encephale. 2023 Nov 30:S0013-7006(23)00202-6. doi: 10.1016/j.encep.2023.09.004. Online ahead of print.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology and Stroke, Szent János Hospital, Budapest, Hungary.
² Faculty of Public Governance and International Studies, University of Public Service, Budapest, Hungary.
³ DRK Krankenhaus, Neuwied, Germany.
⁴ National Institute of Health Insurance Fund Management, Budapest, Hungary.
⁵ Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: gergely.toldi@auckland.ac.nz.
⁶ National Public Health Center, Budapest, Hungary.

PMID: 38040506
DOI: 10.1016/j.encep.2023.09.004

Abstract

Introduction: Meteorological factors can increase stroke risk; however, their impact is not precisely understood. Heat waves during summer increase total mortality. Therefore, we hypothesized that the average daily temperature in summer may correlate with the incidence of thrombolytic treatment for acute ischemic stroke in Budapest and Pest County, Hungary.

Methods: We analyzed the relationship between the average daily temperature in summer months and the daily number of thrombolytic treatments (TT) performed with the indication of acute ischemic stroke between 1st June and 31st August each year from 2007 to 2016. The analysis was also performed after the omission of the data of the last day of the months due to possible psychosocial impact reported in our previous study. Spearman's correlation was used for statistical analysis.

Results: No significant correlation was found between the average summer daily temperature and the number of TT in the entire sample of the 10-year period. When omitting the data of the last day of each month, positive correlations were suspected in 2014 (r=0.225, P=0.034) and 2015 (r=0.276, P=0.009).

Conclusion: Our findings did not confirm an association between the average daily temperature in summer and the daily number of TT throughout the examined 10-year period. However, importantly, in 2014 and 2015, the years with the highest average daily temperatures in this period, a positive correlation was found. The level of correlation is modest, indicating that risk factors, both meteorological and non-meteorological, other than the average temperature, play equally important roles in determining the incidence of thrombolytic treatment for acute ischemic stroke on the population level.

Keywords: AVC ischémique; Acute ischemic stroke; Canicule; Heat wave; Meteorology; Météorologie; Thrombolytic treatment; Traitement thrombolytique.