title: Emergency department presentations during the State of Origin rugby league series: a retrospective statewide analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effect of the State of Origin rugby league series on the number of emergency department (ED) presentations in Queensland.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective analysis of Emergency Department Information System data from 25 Queensland EDs for game 10s and matched control 10s during the annual State of Origin series from 2005 to 2012. The Queensland team won seven of the eight series in this period.
  
  
  METHODS
  Number of patients presenting to Queensland EDs on 24 game 10s and 80 control 10s.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Proportionally, a binomial test indicated there were significantly fewer ED presentations on game 10s (49,702) than on control 10s (172,351) (P<0.001). On average, there were 2,154 presentations per 10 on control 10s and 2,071 on game 10s, representing a 4% reduction on game 10s.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that the State of Origin series was associated with fewer ED presentations on game 10s. We believe these results have broader implications for workforce planning and resource allocation.
authors.affiliation: Emergency Department, Townsville Hospital, and School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia. Jeremy_Furyk@health.qld.gov.au
authors.forename: Jeremy S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Furyk
authors.forename: Jenine M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lawlor
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Franklin
authors.forename: Carl J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: O'Kane
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Kault
authors.forename: Colin J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Banks
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Aitken
mesh_terms: D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005538:Football / Q000293:injuries*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011793:Queensland; D012189:Retrospective Studies