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Abstract
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[ SafetyLit note (from Wikipedia) Crate Day is an unofficial holiday in New Zealand,[1] held on the first Saturday of December in celebration of warm temperatures. The day consists of drinking a crate of twelve 745 ml beer bottles from 12pm until 12am the next day. ]
AIM: To describe the effect of Crate Day on alcohol-related presentations (ARPs) to Waikato District Health Board (WDHB) emergency departments (EDs).
METHOD: This retrospective observational study used a descriptive analytical approach to examine alcohol-related ED attendance. Age standardised ED ARP rates and relative rates (RR) were calculated for the weekends on which crate-day falls (pooled 2019 and 2020) with respect to reference weekends. A sub-group analysis was performed for various age, ethnicity, gender and socio-economic factors.
RESULTS: The age-standardised RR of ARPs for Crate Day weekends relative to the reference weekends was 1.5 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.96-2.26). The rate of ARPs of 20- to 34-year-olds was significantly higher during Crate Day weekends with a RR of 2.00 (95% CI: 1.11-3.59). There was a disproportionate non-significant increase in ED ARPs in males, those who are living in areas of high deprivation, and people of non-Māori ethnicity on Crate Day weekends compared to reference weekends. Alcohol-related presentations were more frequent (72%) between 5pm and 3am on Crate Day weekends.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study suggest an association between ARPs and Crate Day, which varies between demographic groups. Further research is required to determine if this is a reproducible and national finding. Crate Day is a potential target for public health intervention and policy change aimed at reducing alcohol-related harms.
Language: en |