Male Patient Visits to the Emergency Department Decline During the Play of Major Sporting Events

OBJECTIVES: To study whether emergency department (ED) visits by male patients wane simultaneously with the play of scheduled professional and college sports events.METHODS: Retrospective cohort analysis looked at ED male patient registration rates during a time block lasting from two hours before, during, and two hours after the play of professional football games (Monday night, Sundays, post-season play), major league baseball, and a Division I college football and basketball team, respectively. These registration rates were compared to rates at similar times on similar days of the week during the year devoid of a major sporting contest. Games were assumed to have a play time of three hours. Data was collected from April 2000 through March 2003 at an urban academic ED seeing 33,000 male patients above the age of 18 years annually.RESULTS: A total of 782 games were identified and used for purposes of the study. Professional football game dates had a mean of 17.9 males (95% confidence interval [CI] 17.4-18.4) registering vs. 26.8 males (95% CI 25.9-27.6) on non-game days. A registration rate for major league baseball was 18.4 patients (95% CI 17.6-18.4). The mean for registration on comparable non-game days was 23.9 patients (95% CI 22.8-24.3). For the regional Division I college football team, the mean number of patients registering on game days and non-game days was 21.7 (95% CI 20.9-22.4) and 23.4 (95% CI 22.9-23.7), respectively. Division I college basketball play for game and non-game days had mean rates of registration of 14.5 (95% CI 13.9-15.1) and 15.5 (95% CI 15.1-15.9) patients, respectively. For all sports dates collectively, a comparison of two means yielded a mean of 18.2 patients (95% CI 17.4-18.8) registering during the study hours on game days vs. 23.3 patients (95% CI 22.0-23.7) on non-game days. The mean difference was 5.1 patients (95% CI 3.7 to 7.0) with p < .000074.CONCLUSION: Male patient visits to the ED decline during major sporting events.