Weekend mortality for emergency admissions. A large, multicentre study

Area of Science:

• Healthcare quality and safety
• Public health research
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Previous studies suggest higher mortality for weekend emergency admissions.
• Existing research often has limited sample sizes or focuses on specific conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate in-hospital mortality rates for emergency admissions across all public acute hospitals in England.
• To determine if weekend admission is associated with increased odds of death compared to weekday admission.

Main Methods:

• Utilized routinely collected hospital administrative data from 2005/2006.
• Analyzed in-hospital deaths for all emergency inpatient admissions.
• Adjusted mortality odds for age, sex, socioeconomic deprivation, comorbidity, and diagnosis.

Main Results:

• Examined 4,317,866 emergency admissions with 215,054 in-hospital deaths (crude mortality rate 5.0%).
• Weekend admissions showed a crude mortality rate of 5.2% versus 4.9% for weekday admissions.
• Adjusted odds of death were 10% higher for weekend emergency admissions (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.11, p<0.001).

Conclusions:

• This study represents the largest investigation into weekend mortality.
• The findings indicate a significant association between weekend emergency admission and increased in-hospital death risk.
• Results underscore a critical area for improvement in the delivery of acute hospital services.