Incidence of Acute Myocardial Infarction During Islamic Holiday Seasons

Some weather and holiday seasons are associated with increased incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We studied the influence of one such season, Islamic holiday season of "Eid Al-Fitr", on the incidence of AMI in a Muslim country. This was carried out by examining the admissions to the coronary care unit of a large hospital over six consecutive years (from 1997 to 2003), encompassing six consecutive holiday seasons in Kuwait. We compared the admission rates during three time intervals in each of those 6 years; the Eid holiday season, the 2 months before and the 2 months after. A total of 964 AMI admissions occurred, with a mean age of 55 years. When the admission rates were compared, the Islamic holiday seasons were associated with a significant increase in AMI admission rate (45 cases vs. 31 cases, p < 0.01). This increase occurred mainly on the second day of the 4-day holiday season. This finding was confirmed using Locally Weighted Smooth Regression (LOESS) regression models with different smoothing levels. Our finding might have potential implications for preventive health campaigns in Muslim countries.