Assault-related facial injuries during the season of goodwill

The aim of this study was to assess if the "season of goodwill," over the 12 days of Christmas, manifests in a reduction in the rate of maxillofacial injuries secondary to interpersonal violence.

We performed a retrospective analysis at a teaching hospital in the United Kingdom. We identified consecutive patients presenting at our institution with facial injuries secondary to assault during the Christmas season, together with corresponding Easter time and control periods. Data for 4 consecutive years starting from 2010 were collected. We compared the rates of presentation of facial injuries over the Christmas season with those occurring during Easter and control periods. Our outcome measures included frequency distributions of facial injuries secondary to assault as well as maxillofacial injury patterns.

For the study, 440 patients met the inclusion criteria, with 194 presentations occurring during the Christmas season, 132 presentations over Easter, and 114 over the control period (P = .006). There was a statistically significant difference in the mean rates of presentation between the Christmas and Easter seasons (P = .03) and also between the Christmas and control periods (P = .02). We noted an increasing annual trend during the study period in the frequency of assault-related facial injuries during Christmas.

Our data suggest that the rate of assault-related facial trauma during Christmas is significantly greater compared with that for both the Easter holiday period and the baseline presentation rate. The "season of goodwill," therefore, does not appear to manifest in a reduction in the rate of assault-related facial injuries. This increased trauma workload requires strategic planning to ensure adequate clinical cover for these anticipated busy periods.