Silent night: retrospective database study assessing possibility of "weekend effect" in palliative care.
BMJ. 2014;349:g7370
Authors: Voltz R, Kamps R, Greinwald R, Hellmich M, Hamacher S, Becker G, Kuhr K, Gaertner J
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To compare the mortality of patients in a palliative care unit on working days with that on weekends and public holidays.
DESIGN: Retrospective database study.
SETTING: Palliative care unit in Germany.
POPULATION: All admissions to palliative care unit between 1 January 1997 and 31 December 2008.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The impact of day type (working days or weekends and public holidays) on mortality was analysed using Poisson regression models.
RESULTS: A total of 2565 admitted patients and 1325 deaths were recorded. Of the deaths, 448 (33.8%) occurred on weekends and public holidays. The mortality rate on weekends and public holidays was 18% higher than that on working days (mortality rate ratio 1.18, 95% confidence interval 1.05 to 1.32; P=0.005).
CONCLUSION: Patients in the palliative care unit were at higher risk of dying on weekends and public holidays. In the absence of a prospective study, the exact reasons for this correlation are unclear.
PMID: 25515670 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]