[A peaceful Christmas Eve at the hospital]

The aim of this study was to investigate admittance rates and doctors workload during Christmas. In addition, we examined if admittance data supports the common notions that overeating during Christmas results in increased rate of admittances for abdominal problems and that there is an increase in admittance of the elderly at the end of Christmas (i.e. "granny dumping").

A retrospective study analyzing data from the database of the hospital units of Sydvestjysk Sygehus was performed. Data covered admittance in the months spanning from November through January in 1994-2010. Data from Christmas was compared with data from adjacent months.

During Christmas more patients with abdominal complaints were admitted to the hospital (p < 0.001). However, there were no differences in mortality for patients with abdominal complaints or heart disease. There was a significant increase of patients admitted primarily because of lack of care at home during Christmas (p < 0.001). The number of admittance reached an absolute minimum on Christmas Eve. No increased admittance among the elderly at the end of Christmas was observed in our data.

We conclude that overeating during the festivities of Christmas probably results in increased admittance rates in Danish hospitals. Christmas Eve is the day on which doctors can expect the lowest workload. Although the rate of admission due to lack of care at home was high, we could find no evidence of "granny dumping".