Assessment of effects of moon phases on hospital outpatient visits: An observational national study

doi:10.3934/publichealth.2023024

. 2023 May 6;10(2):324-332.

doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2023024. eCollection 2023.

Assessment of effects of moon phases on hospital outpatient visits: An observational national study

Mohy Uddin¹, Aldilas Achmad Nursetyo², Usman Iqbal^{3

4

5}, Phung-Anh Nguyen^{6

7

8}, Wen-Shan Jian⁹, Yu-Chuan Li^{5

10

11}, Shabbir Syed-Abdul^{5

10}

Affiliations

¹ Research Quality Management Section, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Ministry of National Guard - Health Affairs, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
² Center for Health Policy Management, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia.
³ Health ICT, Department of Health, Tasmania, Australia.
⁴ Global Health and Health Security Department, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁵ International Center for Health Information Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan.
⁶ Clinical Data Center, Office of Data Science, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁷ Clinical Big Data Research Center, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁸ Research Center of Health Care Industry Data Science, College of Management, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁹ School of Hospital Health care Administration, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan. No 250 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei 110, Taiwan.
¹⁰ Graduate Institute of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan. No 250 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei 110, Taiwan.
¹¹ Research Center of Cancer Translational Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan.

PMID: 37304591
PMCID: PMC10251051
DOI: 10.3934/publichealth.2023024

Assessment of effects of moon phases on hospital outpatient visits: An observational national study

Mohy Uddin et al. AIMS Public Health. 2023.

. 2023 May 6;10(2):324-332.

doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2023024. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Mohy Uddin¹, Aldilas Achmad Nursetyo², Usman Iqbal^{3

4

5}, Phung-Anh Nguyen^{6

7

8}, Wen-Shan Jian⁹, Yu-Chuan Li^{5

10

11}, Shabbir Syed-Abdul^{5

10}

Affiliations

¹ Research Quality Management Section, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Ministry of National Guard - Health Affairs, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
² Center for Health Policy Management, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia.
³ Health ICT, Department of Health, Tasmania, Australia.
⁴ Global Health and Health Security Department, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁵ International Center for Health Information Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan.
⁶ Clinical Data Center, Office of Data Science, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁷ Clinical Big Data Research Center, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁸ Research Center of Health Care Industry Data Science, College of Management, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁹ School of Hospital Health care Administration, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan. No 250 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei 110, Taiwan.
¹⁰ Graduate Institute of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan. No 250 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei 110, Taiwan.
¹¹ Research Center of Cancer Translational Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan.

PMID: 37304591
PMCID: PMC10251051
DOI: 10.3934/publichealth.2023024

Abstract

Objectives: A vast amount of literature has been conducted for investigating the association of different lunar phases with human health; and it has mixed reviews for association and non-association of diseases with lunar phases. This study investigates the existence of any impact of moon phases on humans by exploring the difference in the rate of outpatient visits and type of diseases that prevail in either non-moon or moon phases.

Methods: We retrieved dates of non-moon and moon phases for eight years (1st January 2001-31st December 2008) from the timeanddate.com website for Taiwan. The study cohort consisted of 1 million people from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) followed over eight years (1st January 2001-31st December 2008). We used the two-tailed, paired-t-test to compare the significance of difference among outpatient visits for 1229 moon phase days and 1074 non-moon phase days by using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes from NHIRD records.

Results: We found 58 diseases that showed statistical differences in number of outpatient visits in the non-moon and moon phases.

Conclusions: The results of our study identified diseases that have significant variations during different lunar phases (non-moon and moon phases) for outpatient visits in the hospital. In order to fully understand the reality of the pervasive myth of lunar effects on human health, behaviors and diseases, more in-depth research investigations are required for providing comprehensive evidence covering all the factors, such as biological, psychological and environmental aspects.

Keywords: hospital outpatient visit; human health; lunar phase; moon phase; observational study.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.. Showing mean difference and 95% confidence intervals per 1000 visits in non-moon and moon phases for 58 diseases with significant differences in the rate of outpatient visits over the 88 lunar months.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

1. Chakraborty U, Ghosh T. A study on the physical fitness index, heart rate and blood pressure in different phases of lunar month on male human subjects. Int J Biometeorol. 2013;57:769–774. doi: 10.1007/s00484-012-0605-z. - DOI - PubMed
1. Ahmad F, Quinn TJ, Dawson J, et al. A link between lunar phase and medically unexplained stroke symptoms: an unearthly influence? J Psychosom Res. 2008;65:131–133. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2008.05.011. - DOI - PubMed
1. Boland MR, Shahn Z, Madigan D, et al. Birth month affects lifetime disease risk: a phenome-wide method. J Am Med Inform Assn. 2015;22:1042–1053. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocv046. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Disanto G, Chaplin G, Morahan JM, et al. Month of birth, vitamin D and risk of immune-mediated disease: a case control study. BMC Medicine. 2012;10:69. doi: 10.1186/1741-7015-10-69. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
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[1] Chakraborty U, Ghosh T. A study on the physical fitness index, heart rate and blood pressure in different phases of lunar month on male human subjects. Int J Biometeorol. 2013;57:769–774. doi: 10.1007/s00484-012-0605-z. - DOI - PubMed

[2] Chakraborty U, Ghosh T. A study on the physical fitness index, heart rate and blood pressure in different phases of lunar month on male human subjects. Int J Biometeorol. 2013;57:769–774. doi: 10.1007/s00484-012-0605-z. - DOI - PubMed

[3] Ahmad F, Quinn TJ, Dawson J, et al. A link between lunar phase and medically unexplained stroke symptoms: an unearthly influence? J Psychosom Res. 2008;65:131–133. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2008.05.011. - DOI - PubMed

[4] Ahmad F, Quinn TJ, Dawson J, et al. A link between lunar phase and medically unexplained stroke symptoms: an unearthly influence? J Psychosom Res. 2008;65:131–133. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2008.05.011. - DOI - PubMed

[5] Boland MR, Shahn Z, Madigan D, et al. Birth month affects lifetime disease risk: a phenome-wide method. J Am Med Inform Assn. 2015;22:1042–1053. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocv046. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[6] Boland MR, Shahn Z, Madigan D, et al. Birth month affects lifetime disease risk: a phenome-wide method. J Am Med Inform Assn. 2015;22:1042–1053. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocv046. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[7] Disanto G, Chaplin G, Morahan JM, et al. Month of birth, vitamin D and risk of immune-mediated disease: a case control study. BMC Medicine. 2012;10:69. doi: 10.1186/1741-7015-10-69. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[8] Disanto G, Chaplin G, Morahan JM, et al. Month of birth, vitamin D and risk of immune-mediated disease: a case control study. BMC Medicine. 2012;10:69. doi: 10.1186/1741-7015-10-69. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[9] Doblhammer G, Vaupel JW. Lifespan depends on month of birth. P Natl Acad Sci Usa. 2001;98:2934–2939. doi: 10.1073/pnas.041431898. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[10] Doblhammer G, Vaupel JW. Lifespan depends on month of birth. P Natl Acad Sci Usa. 2001;98:2934–2939. doi: 10.1073/pnas.041431898. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

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Assessment of effects of moon phases on hospital outpatient visits: An observational national study

Affiliations

Assessment of effects of moon phases on hospital outpatient visits: An observational national study

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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