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.