Association between apparent temperature and acute coronary syndrome admission in Rasht, Iran

Our objective was to assess the relations between apparent temperature and incidence of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in Rasht, Iran.

We used a time-series analysis to investigate the relationship between apparent temperature and hospital admission from 2005 to 2014. Distributed lag non-linear models were used to estimate the association between ACS hospitalisation and apparent temperature. To examine the high-temperature effect on ACS hospital admission, the relative risk of ACS hospital admission associated with high temperature, the 99th percentile of temperature (34.7°C) compared with the 75th percentile of temperature (26.9°C), was calculated. To assess the cold effect on ACS hospital admission, the relative risk of ACS hospital admission associated with cold temperature, the first percentile of temperature (-0.2°C) compared with the 25th percentile of temperature (8.2°C), was evaluated.

The cumulative effect of hot exposure on ACS admissions was statistically significant, with a relative risk of 2.04 (95% CI 1.06 to 4.16). The cumulative effect of cold temperature on ACS admissions was found to be non-significant. The highest risk of ACS admission in women was in 38°C (RR, 2.03, 95%  CI 1.04 to 4.18). The effect of hot temperature on ACS admission occurred immediately (lag 0) (RR, 1.09, 95%  CI 1.001 to 1.19).

The high apparent temperature is correlated with a higher ACS admission especially on the same day. These findings may have implications for developing intervention strategies to reduce and prevent temperature-related morbidity especially in the elderly.