The effect of temperature on illness severity in emergency department congestive heart failure patients.

Introduction: Previous studies revealed fewer visits for congestive heart failure (CHF) to emergency departments (EDs) in New Jersey, USA and fewer admissions for CHF to a Southern Indian and an Israeli hospital during warmer months. Using hospital admission rate for CHF as a marker for illness severity, we hypothesized that CHF would also be less severe in warmer months.

Materials And Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study which included all ED visits from 1 January 2004 to 31 January 2006.