Seasonal variations in stroke occurrence

Background: Understanding seasonal variations in stroke can help stakeholders identify underlying causes in seasonal trends, and tailor resources appropriately to times of highest needs. We sought to evaluate the seasonal occurrence of stroke and its subtypes. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using administrative data from January 1st, 2003, to December 31st, 2017, in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province. We evaluated seasonal variations in stroke occurrence by subtype, via age/sex standardized rates and adjusted rate ratios using Poisson regressions. In those with stroke, we evaluated 30-day case fatality risks by season, adjusted for age, sex, stroke type, and comorbid conditions, and then used Cox proportional hazard models to estimate the effect of season on the fatality. The administrative data used in this study were from the Canadian Institute for Health Information’s Discharge Abstract Database, the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System Database, the Ontario Registered Persons Database, and the 2006 and 2011 Canada Census and linked administrative databases. Results: During our study period, we observed 394,145 strokes or TIA events, with a decrease in monthly hospitalization/emergency department visits per 100,000 people between January 2003 and December 2017 from 24.22 to 17.43. Compared to the summer, overall stroke occurrence was similar in the spring but slightly lower in the fall (adjusted rate ratio aRR 0.97, 95% confidence interval CI 0.96–0.98) and winter (aRR 0.94, 95% CI: 0.94–0.95). There were minor variations by stroke subtype. Winter was associated with the highest risk of stroke case fatality compared to the summer (12.4% vs. 11.4%, adjusted hazard ratio 1.10, 95% CI: 1.07–1.13). Conclusions: We found seasonal variations in stroke occurrence and case fatality, although the absolute differences were small. Further work is needed to better understand how environmental or meteorological factors might affect stroke risk.