https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th
.
Scanlon TJ, Luben RN, Scanlon FL, Singleton N. Is Friday the 13th bad for your
health? BMJ. 1993 Dec 18-25;307(6919):1584-6.
Friday, January 8, 2016
Paraskevidekatriaphobia
The fear of the number 13 has been given a scientific name: "triskaidekaphobia"; and on analogy to this the fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia, from the Greek words Paraskeví (Παρασκευή, meaning "Friday"), and dekatreís (δεκατρείς, meaning "thirteen").
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th
.
Scanlon TJ, Luben RN, Scanlon FL, Singleton N. Is Friday the 13th bad for your
health? BMJ. 1993 Dec 18-25;307(6919):1584-6.
To examine the relation between health, behaviour, and superstition surrounding Friday 13th in the United Kingdom.
Retrospective study of paired data comparing driving and shopping patterns and accidents.
Drivers, shoppers, and residents.
South West Thames region.
Numbers of vehicles on motorways; numbers of shoppers in supermarkets; and hospital admissions due to accidents.
There were consistently and significantly fewer vehicles on the southern section of the M25 on Friday the 13th compared with Friday the 6th. The numbers of shoppers were not significantly different on the two
Friday 13th is unlucky for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52%. Staying at home is recommended.
Cortesy of Atul Gawande, Complications
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th
.
Scanlon TJ, Luben RN, Scanlon FL, Singleton N. Is Friday the 13th bad for your
health? BMJ. 1993 Dec 18-25;307(6919):1584-6.
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Lo BM, Visintainer CM, Best HA, Beydoun HA. Answering the myth: use of emergency services on Friday the 13th. Am J Emerg Med. 2012 Jul;30(6):886-9.
ReplyDeleteAbstract
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of the study was to evaluate the risk of Friday the 13th on hospital admission rates and emergency department (ED) visits.
METHODS:
This was a retrospective chart review of all ED visits on Friday the 13th from November 13, 2002, to December 13, 2009, from 6 hospital-based EDs. Thirteen unlikely conditions were evaluated as well as total ED volumes. As a control, the Friday before and after and the month before and after were used. χ(2) Analysis and Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used for each variable, as appropriate.
RESULTS:
A total of 49 094 patient encounters were evaluated. Average ED visits for Friday the 13th were not increased compared with the Friday before and after and the month before. However, compared with the month after, there were fewer ED visits on Friday the 13th (150.1 vs 134.7, P = .011). Of the 13 categories evaluated, only penetrating trauma was noted to have an increase risk associated with Friday the 13th (odds ratio, 1.65; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-2.61). No other category was noted to have an increase risk on Friday the 13th compared with the control dates.
CONCLUSIONS:
Although the fear of Friday the 13th may exist, there is no worry that an increase in volume occurs on Friday the 13th compared with the other days studies. Of 13 different conditions evaluated, only penetrating traumas were seen more often on Friday the 13th. For those providers who work in the ED, working on Friday the 13th should not be any different than any other day.
Schuld J, Slotta JE, Schuld S, Kollmar O, Schilling MK, Richter S. Popular belief meets surgical reality: impact of lunar phases, Friday the 13th and zodiac signs on emergency operations and intraoperative blood loss. World J Surg. 2011 Sep;35(9):1945-9.
ReplyDeleteAbstract
BACKGROUND:
The influence of superstition, moon calendars, and popular belief on evidence-based medicine is stunning. More than 40% of medical staff is convinced that lunar phases can affect human behavior. The idea that Friday the 13th is associated with adverse events and bad luck is deep-rooted in the population of Western industrial countries. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that these myths are transferable to real-life surgery.
METHODS:
We analyzed the extent to which moon phases, zodiac signs, and Friday the 13th influence blood loss, emergency frequency, and intestinal perforations by evaluating the operation records of all 27,914 consecutive patients of our institution undergoing general, visceral, or vascular surgery between August 2001 and August 2010. Dates of surgery were allocated to lunar phases and to zodiac signs, as well as to Friday the 13th.
RESULTS:
A total of 111 lunar cycles and 15 Fridays the 13th occurred within the 3,281-day observation period. Patients' characteristics did not differ in lunar phases, zodiac signs, or Fridays the 13th. Full moon phases, the presence of Friday the 13th, and zodiac signs influenced neither intraoperative blood loss nor emergency frequency. No statistical peaks regarding perforated aortic aneurysms and gastrointestinal perforations were found on full moon or Friday the 13th.
CONCLUSIONS:
Scientific analysis of our data does not support the belief that moon phases, zodiac signs, or Friday 13th influence surgical blood loss and emergency frequency. Our data indicate that such beliefs are myths far beyond reality.
Radun I, Summala H. Females do not have more injury road accidents on Friday the 13th. BMC Public Health. 2004 Nov 16;4:54.
ReplyDeleteAbstract
BACKGROUND:
This study reinvestigated the recent finding that females - but not males - die in traffic accidents on Friday the 13th more often than on other Fridays (Näyhä S: Traffic deaths and superstition on Friday the 13th. Am J Psychiatry 2002, 159: 2110-2111). The current study used matched setting and injury accident data base that is more numerous than fatality data. If such an effect would be caused by impaired psychic and psychomotor functioning due to more frequent anxiety among women, it should also appear in injury crashes.
METHODS:
We used the national Finnish road accident database for 1989-2002. To control seasonal variation, 21 Fridays the 13th were compared in a matched design to previous and following Fridays, excluding all holidays, on number of accidents, male/female responsibility for accidents, and the number of dead, injured and overall number of active participants (drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists) as a consequence of the accident.
RESULTS:
There were no significant differences in any examined aspect of road injury accidents among the three Fridays, either in females or males. Women were not overrepresented in crashes that occurred on Fridays 13th.
CONCLUSION:
There is no consistent evidence for females having more road traffic crashes on Fridays the 13th, based on deaths or road accident statistics. However, this does not imply a non-existent effect of superstition related anxiety on accident risk as no exposure-to-risk data are available. People who are anxious of "Black Friday" may stay home, or at least avoid driving a car.
Kumar VV, Kumar NV, Isaacson G. Superstition and post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage. Laryngoscope. 2004 Nov;114(11):2031-3.
ReplyDeleteAbstract
OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS:
The objective was to determine whether post-tonsillectomy hemorrhages occur more frequently in redheaded children, in patterns of threes, on Friday-the-13th days, or with the full moon.
STUDY DESIGN:
Case-control analysis.
METHODS:
The authors performed multiple statistical analyses of all children undergoing tonsillectomy at Temple University Children's Medical Center (Philadelphia, PA) during a 29-month period. Children readmitted to the hospital with or without surgical control of bleeding were compared with children who did not bleed. Relation of post-tonsillectomy hemorrhages to the phase of the moon was evaluated using a standard normal deviate. The frequency of surgery performed on Friday-the-13th days was compared with a differently dated Friday chosen at random. Clusters of three hemorrhages in a 7-day period were recorded. Families of children were contacted and asked whether their child had red hair. A chi analysis compared redheaded and non-redheaded tonsillectomy patients.
RESULTS:
Twenty-eight of 589 tonsillectomy cases performed required readmission for bleeding events. Twenty tonsillectomies occurred on a full-moon day, resulting in one bleeding event. One cluster of three post-tonsillectomy hemorrhages occurred in a 7-day period. Four of the children who bled had red hair. Two tonsillectomies occurred on Friday the 13th, with no associated hemorrhage. Statistical analysis revealed a random pattern to post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage.
CONCLUSION:
Post-tonsillectomy hemorrhages do not occur in clusters of three and are not more frequent with the full moon or on Friday the 13th. The bleeding rate among children with red hair is similar to that of non-redheaded children.
Näyhä S. Traffic deaths and superstition on Friday the 13th. Am J Psychiatry. 2002 Dec;159(12):2110-1.
ReplyDeleteAbstract
OBJECTIVE:
This study compared deaths from traffic accidents on Friday the 13th with those on other Fridays in a national population.
METHOD:
The author examined the daily deaths from traffic accidents by sex and age and the mean daily temperature in Finland, 1971-1997. Adjusted risk ratios for death on Friday the 13th versus other Fridays were obtained by negative binomial regression.
RESULTS:
In men, the adjusted risk ratio for dying on Friday the 13th, compared with other Fridays, was 1.02, but for women, it was 1.63. An estimated 38% of traffic deaths involving women on this day were attributable to Friday the 13th itself.
CONCLUSIONS:
Friday the 13th may be a dangerous day for women, largely because of anxiety from superstition. The risk of traffic deaths on this date could be reduced by one-third, although the absolute gain would remain very small: only one death per 5 million person-days.