A Polish National Team win reduced myocardial infarction hospitalizations by 6% on match day, but MI incidence increased by 3.3% the following day regardless of result.
Do Polish National Team football matches affect the incidence of hospitalizations due to myocardial infarction?
Watching emotionally intense national football matches acts as a trigger for cardiovascular events, significantly altering the short-term risk of hospitalization for myocardial infarction.
Absolute Event Rate: 0% vs 0%
Abstract Introduction The impact of non-classical risk factors on the development of cardiovascular diseases is often ignored, which leads to insufficient prevention and treatment of these diseases. In Poland, football has been the most popular sport for years, and its emotional intensity, both positive and negative, can affect the cardiovascular health of fans. Aim of the study: To assess the impact of Polish National Team (PNT) matches on the number of hospitalizations related to myocardial infarction (MI) in the match-related period. Materials and methods The impact of PNT matches on the frequency of hospitalizations due to MI in the years 2011-2021 was analysed. Data on hospitalizations from Eastern Poland were obtained from the National Health Fund, while information on PNT matches was obtained from the football-related website. The analysis was performed using Poisson regression, taking into account long-term trends, seasons, and day of the week. Results In the analysed period, the PNT played 126 matches, of which 61 (48.41%) ended in a win, 34 (26.98%) – a draw, and 31 (24.6%) – a loss. We recorded 152,054 acute hospitalizations due to MI. 62.51% of patients were men, and 63.11% were people over 65 years of age. A PNT win was associated with a 6% (OR=0.943, 95% CI 0.904-0.985, p=0.008) decrease in the number of hospitalizations due to MI on the match day, and this effect was numerically higher in the group of people over 65 years of age (OR=0.938, 95% CI 0.889-0.990, p=0.021). On the other hand, the following day the incidence of MI was increased by 3.3% (OR=1.033, 95% CI 1.004-1.063, p=0.027) regardless of the match result, and by 5.5% (OR=1.055, 95% CI 1.001-1.113, p=0.49) in case of a draw. Conclusions Watching sports events may be a trigger for cardiovascular events. The incidence of hospitalization due to MI is influenced not only by PNT matches but also by their course. The observed association may result from the emotions and stress associated with watching sports games but also from unhealthy behaviours, such as excessive alcohol consumption and smoking associated with those events.
Januszko et al. (Sat,) reported a other. A Polish National Team win reduced myocardial infarction hospitalizations by 6% on match day, but MI incidence increased by 3.3% the following day regardless of result.