Weekend admissions to paediatric/neonatal intensive care units are associated with longer hospitalisation time but not with greater mortality.
BACKGROUND
To evaluate the impact on mortality and duration of stay of weekend admission of paediatric patients to the Paediatric/Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PNICU).


METHODS
Retrospective, nine-year cohort study. The study was performed in a tertiary level PNICU between 1 January  1999 and 31 December 2007. Data about the day of admission, diagnosis, outcome, and duration of stay was collected using a computerised database.


RESULTS
2,223 out of 2,240 patients treated in the PNICU during the analysed period were enrolled to the analysis. 61.9% of the group were newborns. Overall mortality equalled 10.9% and did not differ depending on weekend or weekday admission (10.95% vs. 10.86% respectively, P = 0.96). A negative trend of mortality in both groups was observed (P < 0.001). The frequency of deaths occurring during the initial 48 hours of treatment also did not differ between weekend and weekday admissions (4.1% vs. 3.3%, P = 0.52). Overall duration of PNICU stay was significantly  longer for weekend admissions (median 10 vs. 8 days, P = 0.01). The difference was absent in the neonatal group (12 vs. 11 days; P = 0.9) but was evident in children (median 6 vs. 5 days P = 0.002) regardless of primary diagnosis. The difference was the greatest in children with sepsis and/or haematological malignancy (five days in both subgroups, P = 0.01 and 0.002 respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
No day-of-admission-dependent differences of mortality were detected in the analysed group. Weekend  admissions were associated with longer duration of PNICU stay in children.
Department of Paediatrics, Oncology, Haematology and Diabetology, Medical University of Łódź , 91-738 Lodz Poland.
Wojciech
W
Fendler
Justyna
J
Klobusinska
Łukasz
Ł
Walenciak
Wojciech
W
Młynarski
Andrzej
A
Piotrowski
D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D010343:Patient Admission; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors