Holiday effect in myocardial infarct
Otto, W.; Hempel, W.E.; Goebel, H.; Erkens, R.
Zeitschrift für die Gesamte Innere Medizin und ihre Grenzgebiete 30(6): 231-236
1975
ISSN/ISBN: 0044-2542 PMID: 1199277 Document Number: 93657
Aimed measures of the organisation of the combat against infarction demand also the observation of temporary frequencies. On the basis of the evaluation of certificates of death of the month December of the years 1969 to 1973 of the GDR with differentiation according to so-called prehospital dead (persons who died at home and on the way to the hospital) and patients who died in the hospital with high significance an unwarrantedly high prehospital mortality during the period from Christmas to the end of the year (25th to 31st December) was established compared with the preceding week (18th to 24th December). Since in contrast to this the hospital cases and the cases "on the way" do not show any significant differences main tasks for the beginning of improvements concerning health policy may be deduced, all the more since the so-called holiday effect, expressed by a high home/clinic-relation of patients who died of myocardial infarction, could be restricted to 6 counties of the GDR on account of the analysis of further localities. From the results the tendency of a retrogression of the holiday effect is to be read off in the course of years. In the discussion an explantation of this peculiarity is attempted, and practicable conclusions for the removal and thus for the improvement the infarct situation are formulated.