Prevalence and profile of “seasonal frequent flyers” with chronic heart disease: Analysis of 1598 patients and 4588 patient-years follow-up

Abstract

Background: Peaks and troughs in cardiovascular events correlated with seasonal change is well established from an epidemiological perspective but not a clinical one. Methods: Retrospective analysis of the recruitment, baseline characteristics and outcomes during minimum 12-month exposure to all four seasons in 1598 disease-management trial patients hospitalised with chronic heart disease. Seasonality was prospectively defined as ≥4 hospitalisations (all-cause) AND >45% of related bed-days occurring in any one season during median 988 (IQR 653, 1394) days follow-up. Results: Patients (39% female) were aged 70 ± 12 years and had a combination of coronary artery disease (58%), heart failure (5..