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The association between night or weekend admission and hospitalization‐relevant patient outcomes
Author(s) -
Khanna Raman,
Wachsberg Kelley,
Marouni Amir,
Feinglass Joseph,
Williams Mark V.,
Wayne Diane B.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of hospital medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.128
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1553-5606
pISSN - 1553-5592
DOI - 10.1002/jhm.833
Subject(s) - medicine , weekend effect , emergency medicine , hospital admission , intensive care unit , emergency department , multivariate analysis , univariate analysis , hospital medicine , pediatrics , names of the days of the week , linguistics , philosophy , psychiatry
Nights and weekends represent a potentially high‐risk time for hospitalized patients. Data regarding night or weekend admission and its impact on outcomes is limited. We studied the association between night or weekend admission and outcomes. Methods: We reviewed 857 admissions to the general medicine services from the emergency department (ED) at our tertiary care hospital for demographic information, time and day of admission, and hospitalization‐relevant outcomes (length of stay [LOS], hospital charges, intensive care unit [ICU] transfer during hospitalization, repeat ED visit within 30 days, readmission within 30 days, and poor outcome [ICU transfer, cardiac arrest, or death] within the first 24 hours of admission). Outcomes were compared between groups using univariate and multivariate modeling. Results: Complete data for analysis were available for 824 patients. A total of 58% of patients were admitted at night and 22% were admitted during the weekend. Patients admitted at night as compared to those admitted during the day had similar a LOS (4.1 vs. 4.3, P = 0.38), hospital charges (25,200 vs. 27,500, P = 0.17), ICU transfer during hospitalization (3% vs. 6%, P = 0.06), 30 day repeat ED visit (22% vs. 20%, P = 0.42), 30 day readmission (20% vs. 17%, P = 0.23), and poor outcomes within 24 hours of admission (1% vs. 2%, P = 0.15). Patients admitted during the weekend as compared to those admitted during the week had lower hospital charges and lower likelihood of an ICU transfer but were otherwise similar. Conclusion: Night or weekend admission was not associated with worse hospitalization‐relevant outcomes at our tertiary care hospital. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2011. © 2010 Society of Hospital Medicine.