Death to Daylight Saving Time!

Whether or not it causes death, it should go

I hate DST.

darkirishwitch

A post shared by @darkirishwitch

I have a college friend who has long had an anti-DST campaign, and he isn’t really joking, and neither am I.

Even though I live at a relatively high latitude in the U.S. (at least compared to Florida), I hate the disruption of the twice-a-year switch, and I also really hate how it got lengthened recently so that now we do the switch back to Standard Time in November.

DST Kills

I will give the intro to this long-form piece on X/Twitter: (I added emphasis)

This morning, we in the United States and Canada again engaged in the odd semiannual practice of believing that a day does not have 24 hours. Our friends in many European countries completed this ritual last weekend. Of course, this recent non-24 hour day is the fall transition from Daylight Savings Time (DST) to Standard Time (ST). In total 62 countries worldwide currently practice DST (World Atlas). This peculiar custom was first practiced in Germany during World War I for the stated purpose of saving energy. The belief that energy would be saved by trying to shift more daylight into evening hours was based on the common sense idea that artificial lighting in the evening costs more than sunlight.

….

Fatigue is known to increase the incidence of auto crashes, so many have investigated whether DST transitions affect road collision rates. Smith (2016) uses a clever design of comparing dates which fall within DST some years and in ST other years to control for lighting levels and days of the week. His work showed that there is a 5-6.5% increase in fatal collisions in the US in the week after the spring DST transition, equivalent to 30 deaths and $275 million in damage annually. Fatigue has also been correlated with workplace injuries. A study of US mine worker injuries showed 5.7% more workplace injuries occurring the day after the spring transition versus other workdays and the injuries that occurred were more severe leading to 67.6% more days of missed work (Barnes and Wagner, 2009). Finally, several studies have shown an increase in heart attacks after the spring DST transition and a decrease after the fall transition, attributed to stress from misalignment of circadian rhythms with the hours of daylight during DST (Jiddou, et al; Jansky and Ljung, 2008). Additionally, more suicides occur during DST than ST, although whether this is truly related to DST is unclear (Popoli and Curry, 2020).

You can go to the link to find all the other points related to energy-saving. I don’t care about that point.

(Energy isn’t saved, not really.)

Studies on Mortality and DST

No actual bibliography was given on those studies… so let me dig them up!

Smith (2016): Spring Forward at Your Own Risk: Daylight Saving Time and Fatal Vehicle Crashes

Austin C. Smith

AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL: APPLIED ECONOMICS

VOL. 8, NO. 2, APRIL 2016

(pp. 65-91)

Abstract

Daylight Saving Time (DST) impacts over 1.5 billion people, yet many of its impacts on practicing populations remain uncertain. Exploiting the discrete nature of DST transitions and a 2007 policy change, I estimate the impact of DST on fatal automobile crashes. My results imply that from 2002-2011 the transition into DST caused over 30 deaths at a social cost of $275 million annually. Employing four tests to decompose the aggregate effect into an ambient light or sleep mechanism, I find that shifting ambient light only reallocates fatalities within a day, while sleep deprivation caused by the spring transition increases risk. (JEL I12, Q48, R41)

There are some nice graphs in the paper (which is free to download at the link) - here you go:

Most of the damage is done in the spring, when the hour is “stolen” from us, and not in November when we are given it back.

Cardiac Mortality and DST

There were two papers (or, rather, potentially, more) concerning cardiac-related mortality and DST. I did find them referred to in the following more recent paper doing a meta-analysis including both of them and more:

Daylight Saving Time and Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Background: The available evidence on the effects of daylight saving time (DST) transitions on major cardiovascular diseases is limited and conflicting. We carried out the first meta-analysis aimed at evaluating the risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) following DST transitions. Methods: We searched cohort or case-control studies evaluating the incidence of AMI, among adults (≥18 y), during the weeks following spring and/or autumn DST shifts, versus control periods. The search was made in MedLine and Scopus, up to 31 December 2018, with no language restriction. A summary odds ratio of AMI was computed after: (1) spring, (2) autumn or (3) both transitions considered together. Meta-analyses were also stratified by gender and age. Data were combined using a generic inverse-variance approach. Results: Seven studies (>115,000 subjects) were included in the analyses. A significantly higher risk of AMI (Odds Ratio: 1.03; 95% CI: 1.01–1.06) was observed during the two weeks following spring or autumn DST transitions. However, although AMI risk increased significantly after the spring shift (OR: 1.05; 1.02–1.07), the incidence of AMI during the week after winter DST transition was comparable with control periods (OR 1.01; 0.98–1.04). No substantial differences were observed when the analyses were stratified by age or gender. Conclusion: The risk of AMI increases modestly but significantly after DST transitions, supporting the proposal of DST shifts discontinuation. Additional studies that fully adjust for potential confounders are required to confirm the present findings.

Acute myocardial infarction is better known as a heart attack.

The point is the stress of the transition may have health effects.

Mine Worker Injuries and DST

Changing to Daylight Saving Time Cuts Into Sleep and Increases Workplace Injuries

Abstract

The authors examine the differential influence of time changes associated with Daylight Saving Time on sleep quantity and associated workplace injuries. In Study 1, the authors used a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health database of mining injuries for the years 1983-2006, and they found that in comparison with other days, on Mondays directly following the switch to Daylight Saving Time-in which 1 hr is lost-workers sustain more workplace injuries and injuries of greater severity. In Study 2, the authors used a Bureau of Labor Statistics database of time use for the years 2003-2006, and they found indirect evidence for the mediating role of sleep in the Daylight Saving Time-injuries relationship, showing that on Mondays directly following the switch to Daylight Saving Time, workers sleep on average 40 min less than on other days. On Mondays directly following the switch to Standard Time-in which 1 hr is gained-there are no significant differences in sleep, injury quantity, or injury severity.

Suicides Before, During, and After Daylight Savings Time in the United States

DOI:10.5539/ijps.v12n4p47

•  Gary Popoli    

•  Katelyn Curry    

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate differences in the number of suicides committed in the United States before, during, and after daylight savings time (DST). Conflicting results in the literature suggest both a positive and negative effect of DST in the physical, mental, behavioral aspects society. As a result, some states are proposing legislation to abolish DST while others are trying to make DST permanent. This study is designed to investigate whether DST has a positive negative, or no effect on the frequency of suicide. Archival data from a governmental public database containing the total number of suicides by year and month from 2000-2017 was used. Daylight savings time was defined as the months of March through October while non-DST consisted of the remaining 4 months. The data were organized into 3 groups of 4 months beginning in November, 2007 and ending in October, 2017. The results demonstrated a statistically significant increase in suicides during DST. Most suicides were committed during July-October (M = 74.69, SD = 68.86), compared to March-June (M = 73.56, SD = 67.89), and November-February (M = 67.00, SD = 61.41). Despite disagreement in the literature, this study would suggest eliminating DST altogether. These results support other evidence which suggest a detrimental effect of DST, especially with respect to the psychological and behavioral aspects of public health. Nevertheless, there is still a need for more research to determine the impact of these one hour time shifts in the Spring and Fall.

I find this one less convincing. This may be related to normal seasonal issues with suicide as it is.

FWIW, I found later papers pointing back to this one, but let me make a quick comment: many causes of death have strong seasonal components, such as drowning (more swimming in the summer).

Some of the causes with seasonal components, you may not realize until you think about it for a bit — motor vehicle accidents and homicides.

But that will make it difficult to tease out the DST effect and the seasonal effect already built in.

We do not need DST

Let’s get down to it: why do we “need” to change the clocks?

The energy reason is not good enough. It doesn’t do much.

There are plenty of countries that don’t do any sort of DST.

Japan doesn’t. It ranges in latitude from 20 to 40 degrees north.

(I stayed one summer in Japan, and it was interesting to see the sun up at 5 a.m.)

The U.S. extends farther north (obviously, with Alaska), but the border with Canada is approximately the 49th parallel. Even so, speaking as one living at 41 degrees north, I’m fine without DST.

But look, almost the entirety of Asia and Africa don’t do DST in any form, and most of South America doesn’t.

If China and India, the most populous countries, and Russia, the largest country in geography, do not need DST… maybe the rest of us can drop it.

Death to DST: It may save lives.