Admission rates in emergency departments in Geneva during tennis broadcasting: a retrospective study

Literature provides mixed results regarding the influence of large-scale sporting events on emergency department attendance. To contribute to the research on the subject, we sought to evaluate whether the broadcasting of major tennis tournaments, one of the most popular sports in Switzerland, has an impact on patient admission rates in emergency units in Geneva including 1) type of match 2) the role of a Swiss player, 3) degree of triage, 4) reason of attendance and 5) age of patients.

Admission rates between periods with tennis matches regarding the semi-finals and finals of 3 major tennis tournaments were compared to equivalent periods without matches from May 2013 to August 2017. Patient admission data was retrieved retrospectively from administrative databases of two Outpatient Emergency Units in Geneva. Patients' admission rates in periods with and without a tennis match were investigated using a negative binomial regression model with mixed effects.

We observed a statistically significant decrease (- 10%, 95% CI -17 to - 2, p = 0.015) in admission rates in periods with a tennis match compared to periods without a tennis match, more pronounced during finals (- 15%, 95% CI -26 to - 3, p = 0.017) than during semi-finals (- 7%, - 16 to 2, p = 0.13). In addition, this effect was more pronounced in patients aged between 26 to 64 years of age, a category representing professionnally active people. No modification in the admission rates was detected in the hours preceding and following the matches, nor in type of consultations (traumatology vs non traumatology related admissions).

Although modest, the results support the hypothesis that the broadcasting of large-scale sporting events such as tennis matches decreases admission rates in emergency units. Further research is required to explore for a potential causal relationship.