Study shows desire for new forecasts, potentially altered behavior when risk is high.
For individuals who experience chronic pain, weather can be a significant factor in their day-to-day plans. In a recent study from the University of Georgia, about 70% of respondents said they would alter their behavior based on weather-based pain forecasts.
“We’re finding more consistent relationships between weather patterns and pain, so it seems more possible to make weather-based pain forecasts,” said lead author and geography/atmospheric sciences lecturer Christopher Elcik. “This study was to survey and see what the audience was for this type of forecast.”
The study surveyed more than 4,600 individuals, and among migraine sufferers, 89% identified weather as something that impacts their pain level, and 79% saw weather as a trigger for pain. Among individuals with other conditions, 64% said weather patterns could trigger pain and 94% identified weather as a factor that impacts pain.
Read more at University of Georgia
Image: Illustration connecting weather forecasting with pain-related conditions. (Credit: Graphic illustration by Lindsay Robinson/ UGA)