January 31, 2005 – Contrary to popular belief, there are hardly any more acute cardiovascular problems on Mondays than on other days of the week, according to researchers at the World Health Organization (WHO).
Since many medical reports around the world suggested that there was a higher incidence of cardiovascular disorders on Monday, the WHO requested an in-depth analysis from two scientists attached to the MONICA project (Multinational MONItoring of trends and determinants in CArdiovascular disease ).
The goal? Propose a specific prevention program, if this trend holds true.
Researchers reviewed 28 studies, from 16 countries covering more than 1.6 million cardiovascular events. These were listed according to the type of diagnosis (myocardial infarction, cardiac arrest, stroke, etc.) and analyzed according to three possible causes of their increased occurrence on Monday:
- stress due to return to work;
- more alcohol consumption during the weekend;
- grading errors in hospital reports.
Overall, the excess cardiovascular events listed on Monday was only 1%. This is little compared to the increased risk of suffering from a cardiovascular disorder during the winter months (45%) or even in the morning from 6 a.m. to noon (40%). However, the researchers observed that the “Monday risk” affected men and those under 50 a little more, and that it occurred more on Mondays in January or during rainy Mondays.
The researchers noted, however, that registries from hospitals with less rigorous data collection procedures were the ones that noted the most cardiovascular events on Monday.
However, the authors do not attribute to this the slight general trend they observed in their meta-analysis. According to them, it is difficult to determine the explanation of this phenomenon which is after all marginal. This is why they consider that in terms of public health, there is no need to adopt specific measures in this regard.
Martin LaSalle – PasseportSanté.net
1. Barnett AG, Dobson AJ, Excess in cardiovascular events on Mondays: a meta-analysis and prospective study, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2005, Vol. 59, 109-14.
