For some men, sports pre-empts emergency room stop

Not even a medical emergency can pull some men away from a television showing their favorite sports teams, a U.S. study has determined.

University of Maryland emergency physician David Jerrard tracked nearly 800 regular season college and professional football, baseball and basketball games in the state over three years and found there always was an increase in the number of men who checked into emergency rooms after these events.

Jerrard’s study, to be presented on Sunday at the annual meeting of the American College of Emergency Physicians Research Forum in New Orleans, showed about 50 percent more men registered in emergency rooms after a football game than during the event itself. Thirty to 40 percent more men sought care following a baseball game.

Jerrard said the study was only conducted in Maryland and did not claim to reflect the entire United States. But he said he expected other physicians attending the forum in New Orleans would find similar trends.

Men checked in after a game with “similar symptoms to what any emergency department sees on a daily basis” such as chest pains, abdominal pains, headaches and various injuries, Jerrard told Reuters.

He said he was looking further into how many had severe illnesses or injuries, and whether the delay in seeking treatment compounded the harm.

“Men should not risk their health by putting off going to the emergency room because they want to see the final results of a football game. It could be the last game they ever see,” Jerrard said.

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