Correlation of Weather Parameters with Hospital Admissions for Hypertension in a Cold City, Erzurum, Türkiye

ABSTRACT Objective: Hypertension was influenced by weather conditions and was often endangered by lower temperatures. Erzurum, one of the coldest cities in Turkey, should have a higher risk of having a higher proportion of hypertensive patients, which needs clarification. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between meteorological parameters and the number of hypertensive patients admitted to hospital. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed in a tertiary university hospital in Erzurum by archive scan, searching the patients admitted to the emergency department with the complaint of hypertension with ICD code I10 (Essential Hypertension) in 2019. The annual meteorological data of 2019 were obtained from the relevant institutions and statistically compared by Pearson's correlation test. Results: The total number of hypertensive patients admitted in 2019 was 1333, with mean admissions 3.65 ± 2.7 per day, and mean age was 60.9 ± 14.0 years. The mean daily maximum temperature was 14.15 ± 11.25 ºC, minimum temperature was 1.70 ± 8.69 ºC, mean actual pressure was 813±4.3 hPa, mean relative humidity was 59.7 ± 17.7%. The number of hypertensive admissions had a significantly negative correlation with daily maximum temperature, minimum temperature and actual pressure, but a positive correlation with relative humidity (r=-.244, p<0.001; r=-.211, p<0.001; r=-.308, p<0.001, r=.203, p<0.001; respectively). Conclusion: Hypertensive patients were found to be more vulnerable at lower temperatures, lower actual air pressure and higher relative humidity. They need to monitor weather changes and take preventive action.