Emergency department presentations during the State of Origin rugby league series: a retrospective statewide analysis.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of the State of Origin rugby league series on the number of emergency department (ED) presentations in Queensland. DESIGN AND SETTING 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. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES 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. CONCLUSION 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.