Does Weekend Hospital Admission Portend Higher Patient Mortality?

Whether mortality is more likely after weekend hospital admissions than after weekday admissions is unclear. In a meta-analysis of 97 observational studies, researchers evaluated worldwide data on >51 million inpatients for in-hospital, 7-day, or 30-day mortality; admissions were categorized as weekend or weekday.

Patients admitted on weekends had significantly higher mortality at 30 days than did patients admitted on weekdays (4.3% vs. 3.6%), but substantial study heterogeneity was noted. Prespecified subgroup analyses did not demonstrate a link between excess mortality associated with weekend admissions and any hospital or patient factors that differed between weekday and weekend admissions — including hospital staffing, patients' illness …