Abstract
No previous studies have evaluated the influence of significant international sports events on qualified detoxification treatment outcome. This prospective study examines the impact of the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship on inpatient treatment outcome of alcohol dependent patients. Hospital admission and premature drop-out rates of consecutively admitted alcohol dependent patients were determined before, during and immediately after the UEFA Championship in the year 2012. The admission rate of male patients increased significantly after the European Football Championship had ended whereas for female patients, no change in admission rate was found. Daily average discharge rate was calculated. No statistically relevant differences between the treatment days before, during and after the UEFA Championship was found for the discharges. During the tournament, exclusively male patients dropped out. Our results are consistent with an interpretation of an association between European Football Championship and detoxification treatment outcome. Further research to replicate and extend our findings is necessary.
Highlights
Soccer is one of the most popular spectator sports worldwide
This prospective study was conducted on two specialized inpatient units for qualified detoxification treatment of addiction diseases in a psychiatric hospital in Berlin, Germany
We found no statistically significant differences (p = 0.4546) between the male patient’s mean
Summary
Soccer is one of the most popular spectator sports worldwide. The UEFA European Football Championship is an international football tournament contested every four years and is considered the second most prestigious tournament after the FIFA World Cup. From 8th of June to 1st of July 2012, the 14th European Football Championships was hosted by Poland and Ukraine. Alcohol is strongly associated with popular sport events [1]. That is why sport is saturated by the promotion of alcohol. The linkage of alcohol marketing and professional televised sports is widely present and known to effect alcohol consumption [2]. In the light of the above, PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0167446. In the light of the above, PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0167446 December 28, 2016
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call