Short-term effects of atmospheric temperature and humidity on morbidity from acute coronary syndromes in free of air pollution rural Greece

An evaluation of the effect of ambient temperature on morbidity from acute coronary syndromes (ACS) while avoiding confounding by air pollution.

An ecological study in rural Greece.

Daily admissions to hospital because of ACS were recorded for 1 year and analysed versus daily temperature and humidity.

For a 1°C decrease in temperature there was a 1.6% (95% confidence interval 0.9–2.2%) increase in admissions. This effect was more prominent in the elderly. No difference was detected according to sex or type of ACS.

It is important to implement measures against cold in coronary heart disease prevention, irrespective of air pollution.