On-site medical interventions for spectators at venues during major international sporting tournaments
A prospective comparative study of four single-sport and multi-sport tournaments
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22066591 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Elżbieta Lipska (The Institute of the Polish Language of the Polish Academy of Sciences), Marzena Mikrut (University Hospital), Agata Pawlak (Polish Medical Air Rescue) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Pages | 1812763-1812763 |
| Publication date | 2026-05-07 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Frontiers in Public Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2296-2565 • E-ISSN: 2296-2565 |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1812763 |
| PMID | 42180513 |
| OpenAlex | W7160544286 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 51 |
Introduction: Major sporting tournaments (MSTs) are complex mass-gathering events that place demands on local medical services. Although single-sport (SS-MSTs) and multi-sport tournaments (MS-MSTs) share core planning principles, differences in event structure may influence medical service utilization. Objective: This study compared on-site medical utilization, and hospital transport rates across SS-MSTs and MS-MSTs, emphasizing evidence-based insights to guide scalable and effective medical staffing. Methods: A prospective analysis was performed using daily reported medical data from four MSTs: UEFA EURO 2012, EHF EURO 2016 (SS-MSTs), The World Games 2017 and the European Games 2023 (MS-MSTs). Patient presentations (PPs), transports to hospital (TTHs), and medical-event-to-transport-to-hospital rates (METH) were analyzed. PP-rates (PPRs) and TTH-rates (TTHRs) were calculated per 10,000 attendees. Comparisons were conducted between tournaments and tournament types. Results: Across 2,188,497 spectators, 1,539 PPs and 135 TTHs were recorded. Spectator PPRs were higher at SS-MSTs than at MS-MSTs (5.71 vs. 3.97), while TTHRs (0.42 vs. 0.48) and METH (6.09 vs. 10.08) were similar. Fewer than 10% of on-site presentations required hospital transport. SS-MSTs exhibited higher spectator medical demand per event, whereas MS-MSTs showed more distributed demand across multiple venues. Conclusion: This comparative, multi-event analysis provides evidence-based insights to inform scalable and effective medical staffing at major sporting tournaments. The findings demonstrate higher per-event utillization at SS-MSTs and distributed service requirements at MS-MSTs, offering practical guidance for optimizing resource allocation and medical planning strategies
Psychological intervention · Resource allocation · Staffing · Tournament · Cardiovascular Effects of Exercise · Global Healthcare and Medical Tourism · Travel-related health issues
| Highly cited | No |
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