Chronobiological patterns in hospital admissions for ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms

Abstract

Background: Research has established that many cardiovascular diseases possess a seasonal, monthly, weekly and/or a circadian pattern. Acute myocardial infarction, stroke, acute aortic dissection and sudden cardiac death are amongst the diseases that display these patterns.

Objectives; Observations on chronobiological patterns for ruptured aortic aneurysms (rAAA) have been divergent in their conclusions. The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate whether seasonal, monthly, weekly or circadian patterns could be displayed for a defined population in mid-Norway admitted and treated at St. Olavs Hospital for rAAA.

Material: The day and time of admission for 314 patients with rAAA registered at St. Olavs Hospital in Trondheim during the years 1996 2011 were used. The patients were categorized into sixteen one-year intervals, twelve one-month intervals and seven one-day intervals, four three-month intervals, two versions of six-month intervals and four six-hour intervals for statistical analysis performed by χ2 goodness of the fit.

Results: Time of admission was the only significant variation found. (p <0.0003) Conclusion In patients admitted and treated at St. Olavs Hospital with ruptured aortic aneurysms a significant variation of the time of admission was observed with a peak in the afternoon. No seasonal, monthly or weekly variations in admission for rAAA were displayed for the same group of patients.