Weekend Admission Tied to Higher Stroke Mortality

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 21, 2020 -- Patients admitted for hemorrhagic stroke on weekends have higher in-hospital mortality than those admitted on weekdays, according to a study published in the October issue of the Journal of Stroke & Cerebrovascular Diseases.

Birook Mekonnen, M.P.H., from the University of Georgia in Athens, and colleagues used data from the 2016 National Inpatient Sample to compare in-hospital weekend stroke admissions (ischemic or hemorrhagic) to weekday admissions.

The researchers found that crude stroke mortality was higher with weekend admissions. When adjusting for confounding variables, in-hospital mortality for hemorrhagic stroke patients was significantly greater for weekend admissions versus weekday admissions (22.0 versus 20.2 percent). Findings were similar for hemorrhagic stroke patients treated at rural hospitals (36.9 percent for weekend versus 25.7 percent for weekday admissions) and urban hospitals (21.1 versus 19.6 percent). For ischemic stroke, there was no difference seen for weekend versus weekday admissions at either rural or urban hospitals.

"Factors such as density of care providers, stroke centers, and patient level risky behaviors associated with the weekend effect on hemorrhagic stroke mortality need further investigation to improve stroke care services and reduce weekend effect on hemorrhagic stroke mortality," the authors write.

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Posted: October 2020