Abstract:
Background:
Research has demonstrated disparities in the outcomes of patients admitted to hospital on week-
ends in high-income countries. No published research has evaluated if any similar discrepancy exists in low-
resource settings.
Methods:
To determine if any difference in mortality exists between weekend and weekday admissions on the
public medical wards at a Kenyan referral hospital, we performed a retrospective observational study of inpati-
ents over a 3-month study period.
Results:
During the study period, 261 (27.3%) of the 956 patients were admitted over the weekend. The mortality
rates for patients admitted on weekends and weekdays did not differ with 156 (22.4%) of the 695 patients
admitted on weekdays dying compared to 55 (21.1%) of the 261 patients admitted on weekends. After adjusting
for age, insurance status, co-morbid illness, HIV status, employment, referral status and gender, still no associ-
ation existed between weekend admission and mortality.
Conclusions:
Among adult patients on the medical wards, patients admitted on weekends had similar mortality
rates to those admitted on weekdays. This similarity may re
fl
ect a stable level of care or a generalized shortage
of resources and staf
fi
ng that subsumes any impact of weekly variations. Future research examining optimal
staf
fi
ng and resource levels is needed in such settings.
