The Weekend Effect on Morbidity and Mortality Among Pediatric Epilepsy Admissions

Pediatric epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders with low mortality and high morbidity, often requiring hospitalization. Weekend admissions have been shown to be associated with worse outcomes compared with their weekday counterparts. To date, no study has assessed the impact of weekend admission on clinical and quality outcomes in the pediatric epilepsy population.

Children with epilepsy were identified from the 2000, 2003, 2006, and 2009 Kids Inpatient Database. Quality outcomes were identified using the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services' hospital acquired conditions International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Edition; Clinical Modification (ICD-9CM) codes. Multivariable analyses were conducted to assess the association between weekend admission and inpatient mortality and hospital acquired condition occurrence.

A total of 526,765 pediatric epilepsy discharges were identified, with 80% occurring on weekdays and 20% on weekends. Overall, the hospital acquired condition rate was 3.6% (3.2% vs 5.2% for weekday versus weekend) and inpatient mortality was 1.5% (1.2% vs 1.7%). Patients admitted on the weekend had 28% higher rates of hospital acquired conditions and 21% higher inpatient mortality rates compared with their weekday counterparts. Patients seen at nonpediatric centers had 10% to 28% lower rates of mortality, but 5% to 13% higher hospital acquired condition rates than those at pediatric centers.

Weekend admission is significantly associated with worse clinical and quality outcomes compared with weekday admissions among pediatric epilepsy inpatients. Weekend admissions likely represent unplanned, at risk admissions, coupled with less staffing. Further study is needed to isolate clinical and systemic factors to decrease this disparity in this highly comorbid pediatric subgroup.