Abstract
We evaluated the association between meteorological conditions and sports deaths at elementary, junior high and senior high schools. Data were collected from attached documents such as accident reports and death certificate records in the National Agency for the Advancement of Sports and Health in Japan. Evaluation of seasonal variation showed a significant concentration of deaths from heat disorders and drowning in July and August. When heart disease was evaluated according to the sports situation, significant seasonal variation with a high number of deaths in September–December was observed in sports events. Concerning circadian variation, deaths from heart disease showed a high peak at 10:00–11:00 a.m. in physical education classes and sports events, and at 2:00–5:00 p.m. in sports club activities. Analysis using a multiple logistic model showed a significantly lower odds ratio from heart disease and a significantly higher odds ratio from heat disorders at a wet bulb globe temperature of ≥21.0°C than at <21.0°C. According to the sports situation in heart disease, the odds ratio in sports club activities was significantly lower on days with rainfall than on days without rainfall. According to the school categories in heart diseases, the odds ratio in girls in elementary school was significantly higher than that in boys, but the odds ratio in girls in senior high school was significantly lower than that in boys.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arntz H-R, Willich SN, Oeff M, Brüggemann Th, Stern R, Heinzmann A, Matenaer B, Schröder R (1993) Circadian variation of sudden cardiac death reflects age-related variability in ventricular fibrillation. Circulation 88:2284–2289
Cantu RC (1992) Congenital cardiovascular disease: the major cause of athletic death in high school and college. Med Sci Sports Exerc Med 24:279–280
Cantu RC, Mueller FO (1999) Fatalities and catastrophic injuries in high school and college sports 1982–1997. Physician Sports Med 27:35–48
Gemmell I, McLoone P, Boddy FA, Dickinson GJ, Watt GCM (2000) Seasonal variation in mortality in Scotland. Int J Epidemiol 29:274–279
Gorjanc MJ, Flanders WD, Van Derslice J, Hersh J, Malilay J (1999) Effects of temperature and snowfall on mortality in Pennsylvania. Am J Epidemiol 149:1152–1160
Hanson PG, Zimmerman SW (1979) Exertional heat stroke in novice runners. JAMA 242:154–157
Hjalmarson A, Gilpin EA, Nicod P, Dittrich H, Henning H, Engler R, Blacky AR, Smith SC Jr, Ross J Jr (1989) Differing circadian patterns of symptom onset in subgroups of patients with acute myocardial infarction. Circulation 80:267–275
Hoshi A, Nakai S, Inaba Y (1999) Biometeorological analysis of the sports deaths in the recent 3 years (in Japanese). Jpn J Biometeor 36:113–118
Hoshi A, Inaba Y (2000) Sudden cardiac deaths during exercise in school (1986–1995) (in Japanese). Jpn J Fitness Med 49:503–512
Hoshi A, Inaba Y (2002a) External causes of mortality during exercise in school, 1986–1998 (in Japanese). Jpn J Phys Fitness Sports Med 51:85–92
Hoshi A, Inaba Y (2002b) Mortality rate of heat disorder analyzed from the place of occurrence using vital statistics in Japan (in Japanese). Jpn J Biometeor 39:37–46
Kawahara T, Nakai S, Siraki K, Morimoto T, Asayama M (1994) Guide book of prevention of heat stroke in sports (in Japanese). Japan Armature Sports Association, Tokyo, pp 4–47
Klues HG, Schiffers A, Maron BJ (1995) Phenotypic spectrum and patterns of left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. J Am Coll Cardiol 26:1699–1708
Kuroyanagi M, Matsuo Y, Tokudome S, Kumagaya T (1997) Sudden death during students exercise (in Japanese). Tokyo Metrop Gov Pub Health Acad J 98:200–201
Lampert R, Rosenfeld L, Batsford W, Lee F, McPherson C (1994) Circadian variation of sustained ventricular tachycardia in patients with coronary artery disease and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators. Circulation 90:241–247
Maron BJ, Shirani J, Polic LC, Mathenge R, Roberts WC, Mueller FO (1996) Sudden death in young competitive athletes: clinical, demographic, and pathological profiles. JAMA 276:199–204
Minard CD, Belding H, Kingston JR (1957) Prevention of heat casualties. JAMA 165:1813–1818
Muller JE, Stone PH, Turi ZG, Rutherford JD, Czeisler CA, Parker C, Poole WK, Passamani E, Roberts R, Robertson T, Sobel BE, Willerson JT, Braunwald E, MILIS Study Group (1985) Circadian variation in the frequency of onset of acute myocardial infarction. N Engl J Med 313:1315–1322
Muller JE, Ludmer PL, Willich SN, Tofler GH, Aylmer G, Klangos I, Stone PH (1987) Circadian variation in the frequency of sudden cardiac death. Circulation 75:131–138
National Agency for the Advancement of Sports and Health in Japan (1996–2001) Deaths and injuries under school supervision (in Japanese). Bunnshodo, Tokyo
Roger JH (1977) A significance test for cyclic trends in incidence data. Biometrika 61:152–155
Siscovic DS, Weiss NS, Fletcher RH (1994) The incidence of primary cardiac arrest during vigorous exercise. N Engl J Med 311:874–877
Sugishita Y, Matsuda M, Iida K, Koshinaga J, Ueno M (1983) Sudden death and exercise, labor (in Japanese). Clin Adult Dis 13:873–877
Sutton JR, Bar-Or O (1980) Thermal illness in fun running. Am Heart J 100:778–781
Tanaka H, Shinjo M, Tsukuma H, Kawazuma Y, Shimoji S, Kinoshita N, Morita T (2000) Seasonal variation in mortality from ischemic disease and cerebrovascular disease in Okinawa and Osaka: the possible role of air temperature. J Epidemiol 10:392–398
Tokudome S (1986) Sudden death in sports (in Japanese). J Clin Exp Med 137:442–444
Watanabe G (1971) Basic environmental hygiene (in Japanese). Asakurashoten, Tokyo, p 27
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid from the BioClima Research Committee in 2001. We express deep gratitude to the Safety Division, National Agency for the Advancement of Sports and Health in Japan for permission to access data, and to the IT Project Promotion Division, METOCEAN Environment Inc., for the supply of meteorological data
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hoshi, A., Inaba, Y. Meteorological conditions and sports deaths at school in Japan, 1993–1998. Int J Biometeorol 49, 224–231 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-004-0238-y
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-004-0238-y