The Impact of Weather on Emergency Visits for Acute Endodontic Treatment—A Retrospective Time-Series Study
Background: This study examines the correlation between extreme weather events and acute endodontic treatment-related emergency visits (AET-related EVs). Methods: A total of 11,541 AET-related EVs at the Medical University Graz from January 2016 to August 2022 were analyzed using a distributed lag non-linear model. Extreme weather was defined as conditions beyond the 5th or 95th percentiles, and relative (RR) and cumulative risks (cRR) were assessed over 14 days. Results: High temperatures (>21 °C) increased AET-related EVs (cRR 1.41 [1.20–1.65], p < 0.001), while cold spells reduced cRR (0.81 [0.68–0.96], p = 0.014). Prolonged humidity around 65% raised cRR to 1.38 (1.21–1.59, p < 0.001). Heavy precipitation elevated cRR (1.24 [1.04–1.46], p = 0.016). Lower wind speeds were linked to a reduced cRR of EVs within four days following a single weather event (minimum of 0.86 [0.75–0.99], p = 0.032), and within four, seven and 14 days after prolonged low wind speeds (minimum of 0.69 [0.58–0.83], p < 0.001). Three-day low atmospheric pressure increased RR after seven days (1.04 [1.01–1.08], p = 0.014), while a single event reduced cRR by one day (0.78 [0.63–0.95], p = 0.016). Conclusions: Extreme weather events significantly influence AET-related EV rates, with various conditions affecting risk differently. Potentially causative pathophysiological mechanisms need to be researched.
Authors
- Marcus Rieder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4412-9589)
- Faris F. Brkic (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0770-6677)
- David T. Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6948-737X)
- Bernhard Remschmidt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0408-5991)
- Jan Gaessler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8728-8662)
- Norbert Jakse (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3065-6770)
- Markus Hribernig
- Michael Payer
Institutions
- Medical University of Graz (AT)
- Medical University of Vienna (AT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Applied Sciences
- Published
- 2026-06-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/app16136505
- Primary Topic
- Climate Change and Health Impacts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00