A cross-sectional study of retrospectively reported seasonality in native and non-native residents of Chukotka and Turkmenistan

• Published in: International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Main Author: Putilov, Arcady A.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 2018
• Subjects: Article; Chukotka
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6225441/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30052165; https://doi.org/10.1080/10773525.2018.1500804

Seasonality represents a response of human mood, physiology, and behavior to annual variations in natural and social environment. A strong seasonal response is expected in non-native than native residents of such regions as Turkmenistan that is characterized by high air temperature in summer and Chukotka that is characterized by high-amplitude annual variation in both air temperature and day length. Seasonality was retrospectively reported by 732 residents of these regions. Self-reports on sleep-wake traits and mental and physical health were analyzed as possible confounding variables. The expectation of stronger seasonality in non-native residents was confirmed only for Chukotka samples. However, the native–non-native seasonality differences in this region paralleled the differences in several health scores, while native–non-native health difference in Turkmenistan was found to be non-significant. Given the possible role of such confounding factor as poor health in producing higher self-reported seasonality scores, caution must be taken when the conclusion is drawn from the results suggesting a reduced degree and severity of seasonality in native residents of Chukotka as compared to other native and non-native residents of the two regions.