Emergency Room Calls/Emergency Room Visits/Hospital Admissions
- Calls to a poison center monitored over a 1-year period:
unintentional poisonings occurred more often
during the full moon cycle. However, the number of calls due to
intentional poison exposure (suicides/drug abuse) was significantly lower
during the full moon and higher during the new moon.
Reference:
Lunar cycle and poison center calls (1983)
- 1,444 trauma victim hospital admissions in a 1-year period: no increase in hospital admissions during the full moon.
Reference:
Trauma and the full moon: a waning theory (1989)
- 354,150 trauma patients treated in emergency unit in a 36-year period:
slight decrease in trauma patients during the full
moon.
Reference:
Relation of the weather and the lunar cycle with the incidence of trauma
in the Groningen region over a 36-year period (2009)
- 1,178 major trauma patients admitted over a 4-year period to a
hospital: no association between lunar phase and
number or characteristics of trauma admissions.
Reference: Impact of weather,
time of day and season on the admission and outcome of major trauma
patients (2016)
- 8,722 patients admitted for penetrating injuries at a major trauma
center over a 6-year period: no significant
difference in the number of admissions on full moon days compared
to those on non-full moon days.
Reference: The correlation between
full moon and admission volume for penetrating injuries at a major
trauma centre in South Africa (2021)
- 150,999 patients visits to the emergency department in 4-year period:
no increase in total patient visits,
ambulance runs, admissions to hospital on the day of the full moon.
Reference:
The full moon and ED patient volumes: unearthing a myth
(1996)
- 3,468 emergency room visits and hospital admissions by people who
intentionally took poison: visits and admissions were not
different on days with full moons.
Reference:
Lunar cycle and poison center calls (1983)
- 368 cardiac arrests and 872 acute myocardial infarctions in a 6-year
period: no relationship between cardiac arrests and
myocardial infarctions and the moon phase.
Reference:
Lunar phases are not related to the occurrence of acute myocardial
infarction and sudden cardiac death (2003)
- 15,985 patients consecutively hospitalized with an acute myocardial
infarction (AMI) in a 23-year period: no
association between the new moon, full moon, waning moon and waxing
moon and the occurrence of an AMI.
Reference: The influence of lunar
phases on the occurrence of myocardial infarction: fact or myth? The
MONICA/KORA Myocardial Infarction Registry (2012)
- 6,827 emergency department diagnosis of cardiopulmonary resuscitation
in an 11-year period: no relationship between
diagnosis and the full moon.
Reference: Effect
of lunar cycle on temporal variation in cardiopulmonary arrest in seven
emergency departments during 11 years (2003)
- 8,415,412 emergency medical services activations (911 calls) in the
United States in a 1-year period: no increase in
911 calls during the full moon compared to the number of 911 calls during
other times of the month.
Reference: Full
moons are not associated with increases in emergency medical services
(EMS) activations (911 calls) in the United States (2022)
- Thousands of rescue responses from several different agencies during
at least 6 year periods: no significant
differences in the number of rescue responses on full moon nights
and full moon periods compared to other days.
Reference: Rescue
responses during a full moon and Friday 13th (2019)
- 29,552 cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) on full moon
nights and 58,707 OHCA on control nights in a 12-year period: no significant difference in out-of-hospital cardiac
arrest between full moon and control nights.
Reference: Full Moon and Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in
Japan - Population-Based, Double-Controlled Case Series Analysis, Circ
Rep, 1:212-218 (2019).
- 7,570 cases of ST-elevation myocardial infarction in a 12-year
period: no significant difference in ST-elevation
myocardial infarction incidence or major adverse cardiovascular events
across lunar phases..
Reference: Impact
of lunar phase on outcomes following ST-elevation myocardial
infarction (2019)
- 2,411 patients who underwent pulmonary resection for lung cancer over a
30-year period: rate of intra-operative complications, post-operative
morbidity and mortiality was not significantly
affected by the phase of the moon.
Reference: The dark side of the
moon: impact of moon phases on long-term survival, mortality and morbidity
of surgery for lung cancer (2009)
- 10,916 emergency cases in a 6-year period: no
relationship between emergency cases and the full moon.
Reference:
The influence of lunar phenomena on the incidence of emergency
cases (2003)
- 1,240 cases of myocardial infarction or sudden cardiac death in a
7-year period: no relationship between myocardial
infarctions or sudden cardiac deaths and the full moon.
Reference:
Lunar phases are not related to the occurrence of acute myocardial
infarction and sudden cardiac death (2003)
- 4,387 patients who died after being admitted to the intensive care
unit in a 2 year period: no effect of the full
moon on mortality of patients.
Reference: Effect of the full moon
on mortality among patients admitted to the intensive care unit
(2014)
- 223 cases of epistaxis (nosebleeding) in a 1-year period: no relationship between the phase of the moon and the
number of nosebleed cases.
Reference: The rate of spontaneous
epistaxis is not linked to the lunar cycle but shows seasonal
variations (2014)
- 2,416 referrals for oral and maxillofacial emergencies in a 16-month
period: no relationship between emergencies and
the full moon.
Reference:
The moon and its relationship to oral and maxillofacial
emergencies (2003)
- 14,970 surgical patients in a 7-year period: no
relationship between deaths and the phase of the moon in which
surgery was performed.
Reference:
A double-blind, controlled clinical trial of homeopathy and
an analysis of lunar phases and postoperative outcome (1998)
- 782 patients (866 operations) observed for complications after
surgery: no relationship of complications to the
phase of the moon.
Reference:
Lunar phase does not influence surgical quality (2003)
- 924 patients observed for perioperative complications and outcomes
from elective surgery for degenerative disc disease: the occurence of
a full moon was not correlated with an increase in
complications, re-do surgeries or unfavorable outcomes.
Reference: The
influence of lunar phases and zodiac sign 'Leo' on perioperative
complications and outcome in elective spine surgery (2016)
- 278 patients who underwent living donor kidney transplantation:
no effect of moon phase on patient survival,
perioperative complications or early graft loss.
Reference: Moon
phases and moon signs do not influence morbidity, mortality and
long-term survival, after living donor kidney transplantation
(2017)
- 109 patients over a 2-year period discharged from an epilepsy
monitoring center: a significant increase in
psychogenic nonepileptic events occurred during the new moon quarter.
Reference: Effect of lunar phase
on frequency of psychogenic nonepileptic events in the EMU
(2016)
- 119 patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures over a 3-year
period: no consistent relationship between full
moon phase and the occurrence of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures.
Reference: Effect
of meteorological factors and lunar phases on occurrence of psychogenic
nonepileptic seizures (2021)
- 54,457 trauma patients admitted to emergency rooms in three hospitals:
no increase in admissions or in the severity of the
injury during the full moon.
Reference: The
full moon and admission to emergency rooms (2004)
- 1,374,235 consultations in general practice offices in one year: small
increase in the number of consultations six days
AFTER the full moon.
Reference:
The effect of the full moon on general practice consultation
rates (2000)
- 1,979 patients with a emergency room visit due to febrile seizure or
febrile seizure plus in a 13 year, 8 month period: no
relationship between lunar cycle and onset or frequency of
febrile seizures.
Reference: Are
there effects of lunar cycle on pediatric febrile seizure?: A
single-center retrospective study (2005-2018) (2019)
- 1,710 patients exhibiting a seizure: no significant
differences in seizure occurrence among lunar quarters.
Reference: Revisiting an ancient
legend: Influence of the lunar cycle on occurrence of first-ever
unprovoked seizures (2020)
- 452 bladder cancer patients who had a a radical cystectomy (bladder
removal) during a 12-year period: no relationship
between the moon phase when surgery was done and surgical complications,
the number of re-operations, or survival.
Reference: Lunar
phases and zodiac signs do not influence quality of radical cystectomy-a
statistical analysis of 452 patients with invasive bladder
cancer (2007)
- 1,211 patients with odontogenic abscess (dental abscess) during a 12
month period: no relationship between odontogenic
abscess and lunar phase.
Reference: A dental myth bites the dust--no observable relation between the incidence of dental abscess and the weather and lunar phase: an ecological study (2015)
- 555 patients who had post-operative nausea and vomiting: no correlation between the phase of the moon and
occurrence of post-operative nausea and vomiting 24 hours after
anesthesia.
Reference: The
influence of the weather and the phase of the moon on post-operative
nausea and vomiting (2006)
- 130 patients who suffered a rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm:
significantly more ruptures during the waxing
moon period.
Reference:
Lunar cycles and abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture (2004)
- 348 patiennts with an acute aortic dissection over a 9.5-year
period: no significant influence of the full
moon on the incidence of acute aortic dissection.
Reference: Impact of
meteorological conditions on the incidence of acute aortic
dissection (2018)
- 1,642 patients with acute aortic dissection over a 31-year period:
significantly higher incidence of type B
dissection during the full moon phase.
Reference: Chronologic and
climatic factors of acute aortic dissection: Study of 1642 patients in 2
continents (2019)
- 212 cases of a ruptured intracranial aneurysem over a 10-year
period: significantly greater risk of an aneurysm
rupture during a new moon and a full moon compared to other lunar
phases.
Reference: Secular pattern of
aneurismal rupture with the lunar cycle and season (2016)
- 186 patients treated for a ruptured intracranial aneurysm over a
3-year period: no association between lunar
phases and incidence of intracranial aneurysm.
Reference:
The association between lunar phase and intracranial aneurysm rupture:
Myth or reality? Own data and systematic review (2017)
- 6,770 pediatric orthopaedic injuries during a 3-year period: no effect of the lunar phase on the rate of
injuries.
Reference: Environmental and
temporal factors affecting pediatric orthopaedic injuries
(2013)
- 3,706 spontaneous births during a 12-month period: no
differences in the number of births for different moon phases.
Reference: Labor
ward workload waxes and wanes with the lunar cycle, myth or reality?
(1998)
- 27,914 consecutive patients during a 9-year period: no relationship between full moon phase and
intraoperative blood loss or emergency frequency.
Reference: Popular belief meets
surgical reality: Impact of lunar phases, Friday the 13th and zodiac signs
on emergency operations and intraoperative blood loss
(2011)
- 16,965 patients who had cataract surgery during a 5-year period:
no significant difference in the number of
intraoperative complications with different moon phases.
Reference: The influence
of lunar phases on complications in cataract surgery: An analysis of
16,965 patients (2017)
- 18,760 patients who had surgery during an 8-year period: no statistical correlation between moon cycle and
postoperative haemorrhagic complications.
Reference:
Relationship between lunar cycle and haemorrhagic complication rate in
surgery (2017)
- 112,749 patients who were admitted to the hospital for a stroke over
a 10-year period: no association between moon
phase and occurrence or in-hospital mortality.
Reference: No association of
moon phase with stroke occurrence (2018)
- 5,965 patients who suffered a stroke over a 4-year period: no increase in admissions for stroke during the full
moon. However, more female patients were admitted during the new moon
and than in the first and third quarters and fewer male patients were
admitted during the new moon than in the first and third
quarters.
Reference: Sex
differences in the effects of the moon on ischemic stroke incidence: new
findings from Beijing, China (2020)
- 655 patients treated for an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage over
8-year period: no relationship between moon phase
and the incidence of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, grade of
neurological deterioration or amount of subarachnoid blood.
Reference: Impact of the moon
on cerebral aneurysm rupture (2013)
- 11,691 births during a 4-year period: no
differences in the number of births for different moon
phases.
Reference: Human
births and the phase of the moon (1979)
- 4,071,669 births during a 38-year period: no
relationship between the number of births and the phase of the
moon.
Reference: Lunar
cycle and the number of births: a spectral analysis of 4,071,669 births
from South-Western Germany (2008)
- 6,725 births during a 7-year period: no relationship
between the number of births, birth complications or gender of the
baby and phase of the moon.
Reference: The
influence of lunar cycle on frequency of birth, birth complications,
neonatal outcome and the gender: a retrospective analysis
(2008)
- 305 patients with primary hip arthroplasty: no
effect of lunar phase on perioperative complications.
Reference: Lunar phase
does not influence perioperative complications in total hip
arthroplasty (2012)
- 199 patients with urological pathology presented to the emergency
department during a 1-year period: no significant
association between lunar cycle and presentation of urological pathology
presented.
Reference: Lunar
cycle, seasonal variation, and prevalence of emergency urological
presentations: correlation or coincidence? -- A preliminary report
(2021)
- 559 renal colic diagnosis during a 2-year period: no
significant relationship between lunar phase and renal
colic.
Reference: Lunar phases and
emergency department visits for renal colic due to ureteral calculus
(2016)
- 1,500 patients who were seen in an emergency department for renal
colic over an 11-year period: no relationship
between lunar phase and the incidence of renal colic
admissions.
Reference: Lunar tractive
forces and renal stone incidence (2011)
- 564,039 births during a 5-year period: no significant
differences in the frequency of births, route of delivery, births
to multigravid women, or birth complications for the different phases of
the moon.
Reference: The
effect of the lunar cycle on frequency of births and birth
complications (2005)
- 167,956 births during a 6 year period: no
significant correlation between the number of births and the phase
of the moon.
Reference: Birth
rate and its correlation with the lunar cycle and specific atmospheric
conditions (2005)
- 1,391 births and 48,492 emergency department contacts (3,741 of the
contacts for psychiatric reasons) during a 9 month period: no statistically significant differences in births or
emergency department contacts during full moon dates.
Reference: The
gravitational pull of the full moon to explain phenomenon: Superstition
or science (2022)
- 2,097 sleep recordings from 1,265 people show no
relationship between sleep and phase of the moon.
Reference: Lunar cycle effects on
sleep and the file drawer problem. (2014)
- Subjective sleep quality of 2,125 people showed no
relationship to the lunar phase. Also, no
differences in EEG spectral analysis or diurnal cortisol levels
with lunar phase.
Reference: Bad sleep? Don't blame
the moon! A population-based study. (2015)
- Physical activity, subjective sleep quality and time in bed of 1,411
teenagers do not vary by moon phase.
Reference: Physical activity,
subjective sleep quality and time in bed do not vary by moon phase in
German adolescents. (2017)
- Sleep duration, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and
light-intensity physical activity of 5,812 children (ages 9-11 years
old): sleep duration was shorter (1%, 5 min)
during the full moon compared to new moon, but there were no differences in physical activity or sedentary time
with moon phase.
Reference: Are children like
werewolves? full moon and its association with sleep and activity
behaviors in an international sample of children (2016)
- 12,102 animals examined at animal emergency center in a 3-year period:
no association between the full moon and number of
examinations per day.
Reference:
The influence of the full moon on the number of accessions to an animal
emergency centre (2007)
- 11,940 dogs and cats examined at a veterinary emergency center in an
11-year period: no difference in the number of
daily emergencies on full moon days and non-full moon days. However,
there was a small increase in the number of emergencies on grouped "fuller
moon days" (during waxing gibbous, full moon and waning gibbous phases)
compared to the number of emergencies on other days.
Reference: Canine
and feline emergency room visits and the lunar cycle: 11,940 cases
(1992-2002) (2007)
- 147,295 emergency visits (103,669 dogs, 41,513 cats, and 2113 other
species) to animal clinic in a 16-year period: no
increase in the number of emergencies on full moon days.
Reference: Association
of holidays, full moon, Friday the 13th, day of week, time of day, day of
week, and time of year on case distribution in an urban referral small
animal emergency clinic (2009)
|