Daylight saving time affects European mortality patterns

Laurent Lévy, Jean-Marie Robine, Grégoire Rey, Raúl Fernando Méndez Turrubiates, Marcos Quijal-Zamorano, Hicham Achebak, Joan Ballester, Xavier Rodó and François R. Herrmann ()
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Laurent Lévy: Medical School of the University of Geneva
Jean-Marie Robine: Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)
Grégoire Rey: Hôpital Bicêtre
Raúl Fernando Méndez Turrubiates: ISGlobal
Marcos Quijal-Zamorano: ISGlobal
Hicham Achebak: ISGlobal
Joan Ballester: ISGlobal
Xavier Rodó: ISGlobal
François R. Herrmann: Medical School of the University of Geneva

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: 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.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34704-9

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