Hospitals are dangerous places.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the effect of day of the week on the odds of being discharged alive from an intensive care unit (ICU).


METHODS
A longitudinal analysis of risk of discharge by day of the week.


METHODS
4569 patients admitted to the ICU of St Thomas' Hospital, London, from 2002 to 2006.


RESULTS
The odds of being discharged alive were lowest on the weekend and literally climbed during the week.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results show a frightening pattern of discharge from an ICU ward, most likely caused by a complex web of specialist availability and patient demand.
Barnett
Adrian G
AG
Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. a.barnett@qut.edu.au
Graves
Nicholas
N
Cooper
Ben S
BS
Batra
Rahul
R
Edgeworth
Jonathan D
JD
D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008131:London; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*