title: Hospitals are dangerous places.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. a.barnett@qut.edu.au
authors.forename: Adrian G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Barnett
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Graves
authors.forename: Ben S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Rahul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Batra
authors.forename: Jonathan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Edgeworth
mesh_terms: D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008131:London; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*