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MI common on Mondays, holidays
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In a new study, researchers reported that rates of MI were increased on Mondays and throughout the Christmas and New Year holidays, whereas rates decreased in July and on weekends.
“Our study seems to suggest that psychosocial demands on behavior influences basal biological systems, even to such an extent that they may be potential triggers for MI,” John Wallert, MSc, PhD student at the department of women’s and children’s health at Uppsala University in Sweden, said in a press release.
Researchers analyzed data of 156,690 MIs from the SWEDEHEART registry that occurred from 2006 to 2013. Christmas and New Year holidays were defined as Dec. 15 to Jan. 6. The turn of the month was 4 days before and 4 days after the start of a new month. Summer vacation was limited to the entire month of July, as most of the Swedish population take their vacation in July.
Regression analyses were performed in the eight groups: female, male, working, retired, STEMI, non-STEMI, first MI and recurrent MI.
MI was more common during the Christmas and New Year holidays (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 1.07; 95% CI, 1.04-1.09) and Mondays (IRR = 1.11; 95% CI, 1.09-1.13). Rates of MI were lower over the weekend (IRR = 0.88; 95% CI, 0.87-0.89) and in July (IRR = 0.92; 95% CI, 0.9-0.94). The rate of MIs that occurred at the turn of the month did not differ from the control group (IRR = 1.01; 95% CI, 1-1.02).
After adjusting for temperature and age, MI that occurred on a Monday was more prevalent in men compared with women and participants who worked vs. those who retired. Participants who retired had more MIs during the holiday vs. those who worked. STEMIs were less likely to happen on the weekend vs. non-STEMIs. More participants had a first MI on a Monday than the holiday or the weekend vs. participants with recurrent MI.
Regression procedure was performed on 148,176 participants with symptom-onset date as an outcome. MIs were significantly more common on a Monday (IRR = 1.09; 95% CI, 1.07-1.11) and less common on the weekend (IRR = 0.96; 95% CI, 0.95-0.97).
“The observed variability of incident MI at different time periods during the year may be systematically related to psychosocial stress levels,” Wallert and colleagues wrote in American Heart Journal. “Further research should seek to delineate possible pathways and might clarify mechanisms that are amenable to clinical intervention.” – by Darlene Dobkowski
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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