https://doi.org/10.4081/ecj.2024.12949

No evidence of "weekend effect" for complications of medical and surgical care

Early Access
Submitted: 21 August 2024
Accepted: 28 September 2024
Published: 15 October 2024
Mortality, medical errors, complications, weekend
Abstract Views: 2239
PDF: 150
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Authors

Camilla Mattiuzzi
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5902-2525
Medical Direction, Rovereto Hospital, Provincial Trust for Social and Sanitary Services (APSS), Trento, Italy.
Giuseppe Lippi
giuseppe.lippi@univr.it
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9523-9054
Section of Clinical Biochemistry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.

We performed an electronic search in CDC WONDER online database (years 2018-2022) to explore whether the higher risk of dying during the weekends may be related to complications of medical and surgical care. One-way ANOVA and Tukey's HSD multiple comparison test revealed no significant variation in mean number of deaths during the seven days of the week in the US. No significant difference was observed between the mean number of deaths during the weekend and those recorded during the weekdays (675±130 vs. 711±112; p=0.339). The mean ratio of mortality due to complications of medical and surgical care to the total number of deaths was not significantly different on weekends and weekdays (151 vs. 158×100,000 deaths; p=0.255). The results of this analysis suggest that the so-called “weekend effect” may not be apparently attributable to complications of medical and surgical care and may hence be more related to patient-specific factors.

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Walker AS, Mason A, Quan TP, et al. Mortality risks associated with emergency admissions during weekends and public holidays: an analysis of electronic health records. Lancet 2017;390:62-72. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30782-1

How to Cite

Mattiuzzi, C., & Lippi, G. (2024). No evidence of "weekend effect" for complications of medical and surgical care. Emergency Care Journal. https://doi.org/10.4081/ecj.2024.12949
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