Prevalence of Acute Myocardial Infarction and Changing Meteorological Conditions in Iran: Fuzzy Clustering Approach

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) varies from region to region caused by seasonal climate changes and temperature variation. This study aimed to assess the relationship between changing meteorological conditions and incidence of AMI in Iran. METHODS: This retrospective prevalence study was based on medical records of the heart center of Mazandaran Province on all patients diagnosed with AMI in Mazandaran, northern Iran between 2013 and 2015. Patients’ sex and the day, month, year and time of hospital admission were extracted from patients’ records. Moreover, the meteorological reports were gathered. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference was found between the distributions of AMI cases across 12 months of the year (P < 0.01). Fuzzy clustering analysis using 16 different climatic variables showed that March, April, and May were in the same cluster together. The other 9 months were in different clusters. CONCLUSION: Significant increase in AMI was seen in March, April and May (cold to hot weather).