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Archives of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery

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Open Access 27-01-2023 | Hand Injury | Handsurgery

The effect of weather and temporal factors on emergency hand trauma consultations

Authors: Claudius Illg, Anna Zoldina, Louisa Sarica, Ruth Christine Schäfer, Adrien Daigeler, Sabrina Krauss

Published in: Archives of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery | Issue 7/2023

Abstract

Introduction

Fluctuations in the numbers of patient consultations in hand trauma emergency units are challenging in terms of both scheduling and the provision of sufficient resources. Trauma consultations in general are affected by both temporal and meteorological variables. As the genesis and epidemiology of hand trauma have their own characteristics, this study aimed to identify the influence of temporal and meteorological factors on hand trauma consultations.

Materials and methods

All patients treated for hand trauma in our level one trauma center in 2019 were included in the study population and the data were analyzed in retrospect. The daily weather data, including temperature, sunshine duration, precipitation, humidity and wind speed, as well as temporal factors such as time of day, weekday and public holidays were considered and correlated with patient consultations. Gender differences were studied as well.

Results

We included 4787 hand trauma patients (66.4% male, mean age 38.4 ± 19.3 years, 31.7% occupational injuries). Significantly more consultations occurred on Saturdays as compared to weekdays (14.8 ± 0.6, n = 52 vs. 13.0 ± 0.2, n = 261; p = 0.028), and fewer occurred on official holidays (11.8 ± 0.5, n = 63 vs. 13.4 ± 0.2, n = 302; p = 0.0047). We found a significant positive correlation between daily consultations, sunshine duration (r = 0.14, p = 0.0056) and the mean temperature (r = 0.20, p < 0.0001); in contrast, a significant negative correlation between daily consultations and humidity (r = − 0.17, p = 0.001) was observed. Furthermore, fewer consultations were seen on days with precipitation (12.7 ± 0.3, n = 219 vs. 13.8 ± 0.3, n = 146; p = 0.009). The variation was considerably stronger in men.

Conclusions

Hand trauma consultations increased with increasing temperatures, duration of sunshine, and decreasing humidity. Peak admissions were seen on Fridays and Saturdays. These findings can assist in predicting days with peak admissions to allocate resources appropriately.

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Title: The effect of weather and temporal factors on emergency hand trauma consultations
Authors: Claudius Illg
Anna Zoldina
Louisa Sarica
Ruth Christine Schäfer
Adrien Daigeler
Sabrina Krauss
Publication date: 27-01-2023
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Keyword: Hand Injury
Published in: Archives of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery / Issue 7/2023
Print ISSN: 0936-8051
Electronic ISSN: 1434-3916
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00402-023-04777-2

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Springer Medicine

The effect of weather and temporal factors on emergency hand trauma consultations

Abstract

Introduction

Materials and methods

Results

Conclusions

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Introduction

Materials and methods

Results

Conclusions

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