Abstract
Objectives
To determine whether a sharp increase in Emergency Room (ER) visits at the Montreal Children’s Hospital (MCH) during the week following the death of Natasha Richardson from a skiing-related head injury was a) statistically significant and b) related to media coverage of the event. We postulated that there would be less coverage in the French media and in centres west of Quebec.
Methods
We compared the number of visits to the MCH ER for 10 weeks beginning March 5 and recorded the number for head-related injuries. These data were also compared with averages for the MCH for the same weeks in the previous 16 years; k]with visit figures from Hôpital Ste-Justine (HSJ); and with those from 3 other pediatric hospitals in provinces west of Quebec for the same period.
Results
We found a 60% increase in injury visits to the MCH ER compared to the baseline week (p<0.001) and a 66% difference when compared with the 16-year average. HSJ also recorded a sharp increase during the study week but the rise did not persist. Smaller increases were recorded in the more western children’s hospitals. At the MCH nearly half of the visits were for head injuries, but there was no change in the number judged to be severe.
Conclusions
These data suggest that the media coverage of this celebrity death may have generated anxiety among parents, prompting those who might not otherwise have sought medical care to bring their children to the ER.
Key words: Mass media, famous persons, wounds and injuries/ep [Epidemiology], emergency service, hospital/sn [Statistics & Numerical Data]
Résumé
Objectifs
Déterminer si une forte augmentation des visites à la salle d’urgence de l’Hôpital de Montréal pour Enfants (HME) au cours de la semaine suivant le décès de Natasha Richardson, morte d’une blessure à la tête suite à une chute en ski, était a) statistiquement significative et b) liée à la couverture médiatique de l’événement. Nous avons postulé que la couverture serait moindre dans les médias francophones ainsi que dans les centres à l’ouest du Québec.
Méthode
Nous avons comparé le nombre de visites à l’urgence de l’HME pendant 10 semaines à compter du 5 mars et enregistré le nombre de blessures à la tête. Ces données ont également été comparées avec les moyennes du HME pour les mêmes semaines au cours des 16 années précédentes, avec le nombre de visites à l’Hôpital Sainte-Justine (HSJ), et avec celles de 3 autres hôpitaux pédiatriques de provinces à l’ouest du Québec pour la même période.
Résultats
Nous avons constaté une augmentation de 60 % des visites pour blessure à l’urgence de l’HME par rapport à la semaine de référence (p<0,001) et une différence de 66 % par rapport à la moyenne des 16 années précédentes. L’HSJ a également enregistré une forte hausse durant la même semaine, mais l’augmentation ne dura que quelques jours. Des augmentations moins importantes ont été observées dans les 3 autres hôpitaux pédiatriques. À l’HME, près de la moitié des visites ont été pour des blessures à la tête sans qu’il n’y ait aucun changement dans le nombre de celles jugées sévères.
Conclusions
Ces données suggèrent que la couverture médiatique de la mort de cette célébrité a suscité de l’inquiétude chez les parents, les incitant à venir à l’urgence avec leurs enfants et qui, autrement, n’auraient pas cherché à consulter pour des soins médicaux.
Mots clés: personnes célèbres, mass-médias, blessures/[Épidémiologie], service urgences/statistiques et données numériques
Footnotes
Conflict of Interest: None to declare.
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