J Korean Soc Emerg Med.  2005 Jun;16(3):356-362.

Effects of Weekend on the Prognoses for Patients Visiting to Emergency Medical Centers

• Kim MJ
• Lee DR
• Kim GT

Abstract

PURPOSE
Despite the increased number of patients visiting emergency rooms on weekends, the level of staffing is often lower than it is on weekdays. It is uncertain whether in-hospital mortality rates among patients depend on when they visited the hospital on a weekend or on a weekday.
METHODS
We analyzed 21,645 patients who visited our emergency department in 2003. We compared death within 48 hours after a visit to the emergency room between patients who visited on weekends and those with visited on weekdays. The odds of death within 48 hours for patients who visited on a weekend were analyzed by using a multivariate logistic regression. The severity of illness was adjusted by using triage and the Charlson comorbidity score.
RESULTS
Compared with patients who visited on weekdays, the number of patients who visited on weekends was increased in 30%. The mortality rates were not statistically different for patients who visited on weekends and patients who visited on weekdays (3.1% vs 2.8%, p=0.399). However, two diagnoses (pneumonia and spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage) were associated significantly with a weekend effect.
CONCLUSION
Visiting the emergency department on weekends was not associated with a higher mortality than visiting the emergency department on weekdays.

Keyword

Hospital mortality; Weekends

MeSH Terms

Comorbidity
Diagnosis
Emergencies*
Emergency Service, Hospital
Hospital Mortality
Humans
Logistic Models
Mortality
Prognosis*
Triage