Background: It is widely believed that patients are more frequently admitted to hospital in bad weather.
Material and methods: We evaluated all 15,060 emergency admissions to the Medical Department of Rogaland Central Hospital during a 17-month period and compared this material with meteorological data.
Results: We found no correlation between the number of admissions and "good weather" (as defined by the amount of cloud cover), but we found a significant difference of about two more patients (6.6%) being admitted on days with rain and snow. There was no correlation between the amount of precipitation and the number of admitted patients, but a small, significant inverse relation between temperature and admissions. We have also demonstrated a considerable difference in the number of admissions on the different weekdays, with the highest number on Mondays and the lowest on Saturdays.
Interpretation: Both the incidence of disease and doctor availability may partially explain the influence of weather and the daily variation in emergency admissions to hospital.