THE IMPACT OF WEATHER CONDITIONS IN TOMSK ON THE FREQUENCY OF EMERGENCY CARDIAC CARE VISITS IN 2018–2022

Abstract

The observed climate changes bring into focus the problem of timely prevention and correction ofweather-related diseases as there are registered and predicted shifts in the average weather indicators as well as increasingvariability and extremes of weather and climate conditions. The specificity of the reaction and adaptation of the humanbody to changes in weather conditions depending on the climatic features of a particular territory gives special relevanceto regional studies. This paper aims to identify weather conditions associated with increased risks of cardiovascular pathologies in the city of Tomsk. The authors assess whether the increase in the number of hospitalizations in the Clinic ofthe Cardiology Research Institute in Tomsk was caused by weather conditions, which is done on the basis of daily datafrom the Tomsk weather station (the whole range of measured weather characteristics). Dependences of anginal attackfrequency on weather conditions were estimated using correlation analysis and expert evaluations. Seasonal peculiaritiesof the dynamics of the number of attacks were assessed on the basis of daily values of the number of attacks normalizedto the monthly average for the period considered (taken as 100%). Days with 6 attacks or more were selected for a separateanalysis, and meteorological characteristics were analyzed for these days and for the five days preceding them. The criticalsignificance level was ≤ 0.05. The study has established the combinations of unfavorable meteorological characteristicscorresponding to an increase in the number of attacks diagnosed as acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and acute coronaryinsufficiency (ACI). For the city of Tomsk, the most significant stress factor provoking cardiovascular pathologies areinter-day changes in atmospheric pressure and air temperature. On days with less than 5 cardiac attacks leading to hospitalization, high sensitivity to weather factor is noted. On days with more than 5 such attacks, the weather factor is not themain one, but only creates a stressful background. Stable coordinated pathogenic regimes of atmospheric pressure andtemperature form prolonged meteorotropic reactions, which are manifested in a surge in the number of cases diagnosedas AMI and ACI on day 4–5 as well as in an increased number of attacks per day throughout the entire period of theheat/cold wave.