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Seasonal variation of diseases in children: a 6-year prospective cohort study in a general hospital

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Abstract

Seasonal variation in pediatrics has been well described in some infectious diseases, asthma, and diabetes, but data on seasonality for other diseases in children are sparse. To explore the extent of seasonal variation of the entire pediatric field, we analyzed diagnostic codes of all newly referred patients (n = 51,054) to our pediatric department of a large teaching hospital in the Netherlands over a 6-year period (2008–2013). Seasonality was analyzed using simple moving averages, the standard error of the mean (SEM) and the percentage monthly variation. We defined seasonal variation as a visually recognizable periodic pattern in every year in combination with a standard error of the mean > 0.20. Four diseases fulfilled our definition of seasonality: respiratory tract infections (peak in January, +107.0 %), gastroenteritis (peak in February–March, +95.8 % and +112.9 %, respectively), functional complaints (peak in March, +34.0 %, and November, +13.4 %), and asthma (peak in March, +27.8 %, and October, +17.5 %). Together, these four categories comprised 21.2 % of all newly referred patients.

Conclusion: Seasonal variation occurs in more than one fifth of all patients with pediatric disease. We demonstrated not only seasonal variation for respiratory tract infections, gastroenteritis, and asthma, but also for functional complaints.

What is known:

• Seasonal variation has been described for pediatric diseases such as bronchiolitis, gastroenteritis, asthma, and diabetes.

• Information on seasonality in other pediatric fields is sparse but may be helpful in understanding pathophysiology and workforce planning.

What is new:

• This study confirmed seasonal variation in respiratory infection diseases gastroenteritis and asthma.

• Moreover, it showed seasonal variation for functional complaints for example (abdominal pain and headache), which has not been described previously.

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Abbreviations

DBC:

Dutch: Diagnose behandeling combinatie or “Diagnosis treatment combination”

ICD:

International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems

SEM:

Standard error of the mean

SD:

Standard deviation

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Authors’ contributions

The manuscript has been read and approved by all authors, and all authors have contributed to preparing the manuscript. TS performed data analysis, interpreted data, and wrote the initial version of the report. JB designed the study, supervised data analysis, and edited the report. TS and JB had full access to all of the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. PB helped in study design and analysis and edited the report.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Princess Amalia Children’s Center, Isala, Dokter van Heesweg 2, 8025 AB, Zwolle, PO Box 10400, 8000 GK, The Netherlands

    Tessa V. Schrijver, Paul L. P. Brand & Jolita Bekhof

  2. UMCG Postgraduate School of Medicine, University Medical Center and University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1,9713 GZ, Postbus 30.001, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Paul L. P. Brand

Authors
  1. Tessa V. Schrijver
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  2. Paul L. P. Brand
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  3. Jolita Bekhof
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Correspondence to Jolita Bekhof.

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No funding was secured for this study.

Financial disclosure

The authors have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Communicated by Jaan Toelen

Revisions received: 29 May 2015; 12 August 2015

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Schrijver, T.V., Brand, P.L.P. & Bekhof, J. Seasonal variation of diseases in children: a 6-year prospective cohort study in a general hospital. Eur J Pediatr 175, 457–464 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-015-2653-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-015-2653-y

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