IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v13y2022i1d10.1038_s41467-022-34704-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Daylight saving time affects European mortality patterns

Author

Listed:
  • Laurent Lévy

    (Medical School of the University of Geneva)

  • Jean-Marie Robine

    (Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)
    École Pratique des Hautes Études)

  • Grégoire Rey

    (Hôpital Bicêtre)

  • Raúl Fernando Méndez Turrubiates

    (ISGlobal)

  • Marcos Quijal-Zamorano

    (ISGlobal
    Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF))

  • Hicham Achebak

    (ISGlobal)

  • Joan Ballester

    (ISGlobal)

  • Xavier Rodó

    (ISGlobal
    Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats)

  • François R. Herrmann

    (Medical School of the University of Geneva
    Geneva University Hospitals)

Abstract

Daylight saving time (DST) consists in a one-hour advancement of legal time in spring offset by a backward transition of the same magnitude in fall. It creates a minimal circadian misalignment that could disrupt sleep and homoeostasis in susceptible individuals and lead to an increased incidence of pathologies and accidents during the weeks immediately following both transitions. How this shift affects mortality dynamics on a large population scale remains, however, unknown. This study examines the impact of DST on all-cause mortality in 16 European countries for the period 1998-2012. It shows that mortality decreases in spring and increases in fall during the first two weeks following each DST transition. Moreover, the alignment of time data around DST transition dates revealed a septadian mortality pattern (lowest on Sundays, highest on Mondays) that persists all-year round, irrespective of seasonal variations, in men and women aged above 40.

Suggested Citation

  • Laurent Lévy & Jean-Marie Robine & Grégoire Rey & Raúl Fernando Méndez Turrubiates & Marcos Quijal-Zamorano & Hicham Achebak & Joan Ballester & Xavier Rodó & François R. Herrmann, 2022. "Daylight saving time affects European mortality patterns," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-34704-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34704-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-34704-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-022-34704-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joan Ballester & Jean-Marie Robine & François Richard Herrmann & Xavier Rodó, 2011. "Long-term projections and acclimatization scenarios of temperature-related mortality in Europe," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 2(1), pages 1-8, September.
    2. Michael Poteser & Hanns Moshammer, 2020. "Daylight Saving Time Transitions: Impact on Total Mortality," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-5, March.
    3. Hanxin Zhang & Torsten Dahlén & Atif Khan & Gustaf Edgren & Andrey Rzhetsky, 2020. "Measurable health effects associated with the daylight saving time shift," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-13, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nwaerema Peace, 2020. "Impact of Climate Change on Insects, Pest, Diseases and Animal Biodiversity," International Journal of Environmental Sciences & Natural Resources, Juniper Publishers Inc., vol. 23(4), pages 175-178, March.
    2. Maria Papathoma-Koehle & Catrin Promper & Roxana Bojariu & Roxana Cica & András Sik & Kinga Perge & Peter László & Erika Balázs Czikora & Alexandru Dumitrescu & Cosmin Turcus & Marius-Victor Birsan & , 2016. "A common methodology for risk assessment and mapping for south-east Europe: an application for heat wave risk in Romania," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 82(1), pages 89-109, May.
    3. Hanns Moshammer & Michael Poteser & Michael Kundi & Kathrin Lemmerer & Lisbeth Weitensfelder & Peter Wallner & Hans-Peter Hutter, 2020. "Nitrogen-Dioxide Remains a Valid Air Quality Indicator," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-11, May.
    4. Rosaria Cappadona & Sara Puzzarini & Vanessa Farinelli & Piergiorgio Iannone & Alfredo De Giorgi & Emanuele Di Simone & Roberto Manfredini & Rosita Verteramo & Pantaleo Greco & María Aurora Rodríguez , 2020. "Daylight Saving Time and Spontaneous Deliveries: A Case–Control Study in Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-9, November.
    5. Nwaerema Peace, 2020. "Impact of Climate Change on Insects, Pest, Diseases and Animal Biodiversity," International Journal of Environmental Sciences & Natural Resources, Juniper Publishers Inc., vol. 23(4), pages 165-167, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-34704-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.