Minimal temperature, mean wind speed, and mean relative humidity are associated with spontaneous epistaxis in Seoul, Korea

Abstract

Objective: Epistaxis is a commonly encountered condition; however, factors that have been associated with epistaxis are controversial. Although several previous studies have evaluated the relationship between meteorological factors and epistaxis, studies conducted in Korea has been nearly reported. We attempted to evaluate the meteorological factors associated with the frequency of patients presenting with epistaxis in a tertiary hospital. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients presenting with spontaneous epistaxis in an urban tertiary medical center, during one year. Patients with a clear etiology for epistaxis (such as trauma, previous surgery) were regarded as cases of secondary epistaxis and were excluded from this study. Daily climatic data were collected from the website of Korea Meteorological Administration. Meteorological factors affecting the frequency of patients presenting with epistaxis were statistically analyzed. Results: Among 350 enrolled subjects, 219 were males and 131 were females, and the mean age was 44.94 ± 26.02 years. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses revealed that minimal temperature and mean wind speed were significant factors that affected the presence of patients presenting with epistaxis to the hospital. Furthermore, ordinal logistic regression analysis showed that decreases in minimal temperature and mean relative humidity were associated with a increase in the number of patients presenting with epistaxis. Conclusion: Minimal temperature and mean wind speed were significantly different between days with epistaxis and days without epistaxis patients presenting with epistaxis, and minimal temperature and mean relative humidity were associated with number of patients presenting with epistaxis. Our findings suggested that these meteorological factors might affect the spontaneous epistaxis in Seoul, Korea. © 2020