Timing pattern of onset in hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage patients

The temporal pattern of onset of hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) has been evaluated in previous reports, but there are few published data on this pattern in Chongqing, China. The purpose of this study is to explore the temporal pattern of diurnal, weekly and monthly variations in the onset of hypertensive ICH from a hospital-based population. The study retrospectively reviewed 230 residents who suffered from hypertensive ICH between January 2008 and August 2009 in our hospital. The temporal pattern was investigated by hours, days and months. Chi-square test for goodness of fit was used for statistical analysis. Significant differences of the onset time of hypertensive ICH patients could be seen in diurnal variation (p = 0.000) and in monthly variation (p = 0.000), but could not be found in weekly variation (p = 0.466). There was a bimodal distribution in diurnal variation, and monthly variation showed that the occurrence of hypertensive ICH mainly focuses on the period from December to May. Our study demonstrated the existence of diurnal and monthly variations and no significant weekly variation can be found in the time of onset of hypertensive ICH. © 2011 Springer-Verlag/Wien.