Influence of summer tourist flows on occurrence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in an Italian tourist-intensive area

Abstract

Introduction: The study aims to evaluate the seasonal variation of out-of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in a tourist-intensive area.

Methods: Data of all OHCA treated by the Emergency Medical Service of Lecce (LE-EMS), Italy, between 2013 and 2017, were retrospectively analyzed and complemented with information about tourist flows, in order to determine the influence of the seasonal variation of population on incidence and outcome.

Results: Tourist arrivals were around 1,700,000 per year, mostly in summer, adding up to 803,161 residents. The occurrence of OHCA did not show a monthly variation when referring to the resident population (p = 0.90). When taking into account the tourist flows, a difference in occurrence of OHCA across months was found, with the highest rate of arrests in December and the lowest in August (10.3 vs 3.4 per 100,000 persons, p < 0.01). No difference was found in terms of EMS arrival time and event survival rate between summer and the rest of the year (13.6 vs 13.8 min, p = 0.55, and 4.4% vs 4.5%, p = 0.86, respectively).

Conclusion: In summer tourism areas, the occurrence of OHCA is unchanged throughout the year, while the actual population presents seasonal increases. Summer enhancement of provincial EMS may contribute to maintain the performance of emergency care.

Keywords: Chronobiology; Emergency Medical Services; Epidemiology; Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; Prehospital Emergency Care; Seasonal variation.