title: Pediatric weekend admission and increased unplanned readmission rates.
abstract: Outcomes for patients hospitalized on weekends are often worse for adults-the so-called "weekend effect." Less is known about the weekend effect for children. We examined 55,383 hospitalizations at a tertiary care children's hospital. We used logistic regression to examine the associations of weekend admission and weekend discharge with unplanned 30-day readmission. We adjusted analyses for patient and hospitalization characteristics including number of complex chronic conditions, technology dependency, and length of stay. The 30-day unplanned readmission rate was 10.3%. Children admitted on the weekend had significantly higher odds of unplanned readmission compared to children admitted on weekdays (adjusted odds ratio = 1.09 [95% confidence interval: 1.004-1.18]). In contrast, being discharged on the weekend was not associated with readmission. In conclusion, children admitted on the weekend have higher rates of 30-day unplanned readmission than children admitted during the week, suggesting care differences on the weekend related to initial clinical management rather than discharge planning.
authors.affiliation: General Pediatrics, Division of Hospital Medicine and James M. Anderson Center for Healthcare Excellence, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio.
authors.forename: Katherine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Auger
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, and Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
authors.forename: Matthew M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Davis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006760:Hospitalization; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007902:Length of Stay; D016015:Logistic Models; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010351:Patient Discharge; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*