influence of the television broadcast of the 1998 football world cup on emergency calls in France
Dear sir,
We read with interest the paper from Witte and coll. about the influence
of the television broadcast of the football matches on cardiovascular
mortality in the Dutch population [1]. The results of this study could be
discussed, in particular because hebdomadal rhythms that could influence
heart disease were not took into account (comparing the days before and
after 22 June1996) [1, 2]. Furthermore, because television broadcasts
occured in the evening, heart events could have happened a few hours
later, or even the following day.
To answer a similar question, we
prospectively studied the activity of a French Emergency Medical Aid
Service (SAMU) during the 1998 French World Cup [3}. In our area, the
Seine-Saint-Denis, situated to the east of Paris, the SAMU, answers more
than 100,000 calls for emergency assistance per year for a population of
1,4 million. We first set up a reference of the time distribution of the
emergency calls for the year 1997 and the first five months of the year
1998. This distribution, established regarding 170,000 calls was neither
significantly influenced by the day of the week nor the month of the year
(Figure). To study the influence of the football matches broadcasts we
compared this reference with the time flow of calls observed at the time
of each 64 matches of the World Cup. None but one of the 64 television
broadcasts influenced the flow of calls to the SAMU. Only the television
broadcast of the World Cup final, won by the French team, modified to a
significant degree the time flow of calls which decreased at the end of
the broadcast (p = 0,048) and increased thereafter (p = 0,046) (Figure).
We found no significant changes in age and sex ratio in the caller
population. Changes in the flow of calls was not sufficient to provide any
significant differences in emergency calls for cardiovascular events or
any other type of event. During the final, the viewer number was evaluated
at 23 millions, approximately 41% of the French population.
We reached the
conclusion that, only an event of completely exceptional matter was likely
to modify the time flow of calls to an Emergency Medical Aid Service. In
the study from Witte and coll. the mortality rate was influenced by an
event watched on the TV by 60% of the population. Our study, showing
changes in flow of emergency calls at the end of a major match supports
their conclusion that stress could be a triggering factor for cardiac
events.
1 - Cardiovascular mortality in Dutch men during 1996 European
football championship: longitudinal population study. Witte DR, Bots ML,
Hoes AW, Grobbee DE. Br Med J 2000;321:1552-1554
2 - Hebdomadal rhythms of the heart. Martin C. Br Med J 2000;321:1542-1543
3 – Emergency medicine in France. Nikkanen HE, Pouges C, Jacobs LM. Ann
Emerg Med 1998 ;31 :116 - 120
Rapid Response:
influence of the television broadcast of the 1998 football world cup on emergency calls in France
Dear sir,
We read with interest the paper from Witte and coll. about the influence
of the television broadcast of the football matches on cardiovascular
mortality in the Dutch population [1]. The results of this study could be
discussed, in particular because hebdomadal rhythms that could influence
heart disease were not took into account (comparing the days before and
after 22 June1996) [1, 2]. Furthermore, because television broadcasts
occured in the evening, heart events could have happened a few hours
later, or even the following day.
To answer a similar question, we
prospectively studied the activity of a French Emergency Medical Aid
Service (SAMU) during the 1998 French World Cup [3}. In our area, the
Seine-Saint-Denis, situated to the east of Paris, the SAMU, answers more
than 100,000 calls for emergency assistance per year for a population of
1,4 million. We first set up a reference of the time distribution of the
emergency calls for the year 1997 and the first five months of the year
1998. This distribution, established regarding 170,000 calls was neither
significantly influenced by the day of the week nor the month of the year
(Figure). To study the influence of the football matches broadcasts we
compared this reference with the time flow of calls observed at the time
of each 64 matches of the World Cup. None but one of the 64 television
broadcasts influenced the flow of calls to the SAMU. Only the television
broadcast of the World Cup final, won by the French team, modified to a
significant degree the time flow of calls which decreased at the end of
the broadcast (p = 0,048) and increased thereafter (p = 0,046) (Figure).
We found no significant changes in age and sex ratio in the caller
population. Changes in the flow of calls was not sufficient to provide any
significant differences in emergency calls for cardiovascular events or
any other type of event. During the final, the viewer number was evaluated
at 23 millions, approximately 41% of the French population.
We reached the
conclusion that, only an event of completely exceptional matter was likely
to modify the time flow of calls to an Emergency Medical Aid Service. In
the study from Witte and coll. the mortality rate was influenced by an
event watched on the TV by 60% of the population. Our study, showing
changes in flow of emergency calls at the end of a major match supports
their conclusion that stress could be a triggering factor for cardiac
events.
1 - Cardiovascular mortality in Dutch men during 1996 European
football championship: longitudinal population study. Witte DR, Bots ML,
Hoes AW, Grobbee DE. Br Med J 2000;321:1552-1554
2 - Hebdomadal rhythms of the heart. Martin C. Br Med J 2000;321:1542-1543
3 – Emergency medicine in France. Nikkanen HE, Pouges C, Jacobs LM. Ann
Emerg Med 1998 ;31 :116 - 120
Competing interests: No competing interests