When the Cats are away: The impact of sporting events on assault- and alcohol-related emergency department attendances

Abstract

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: Despite the attention given to the broad topic of alcohol and violence, there are few studies of this relationship in the context of sporting events and their impact on alcohol-related hospital emergency department (ED) attendances, none of which are Australian. METHODS: De-identified patient records from Barwon Health's Geelong Hospital ED were analysed from 1 July 2005 to 16 February 2010. Information contained in these records included age, gender, suburb of residence, attendance date and time, arrival mode and reason for attendance. The ED triage database was searched for attendances relating to alcohol, drugs and assault of which 16,940 cases were returned. RESULT..