A recent study indcated that the mortality rate for stroke patients admitted on a weekend were 13% higher than if admitted on a weekday. This finding corresponds to other past studies that indicate that care suffers on weekends.
Although one may be justified in jumping to the conclusion of lower staffing ratios, and less specialists on weekends; there are other plausible reasons.
Twenty-four percent of strokes occur on weekends. Severity of these strokes could be worse, as older men are usually the ones to have strokes. Additionally, the increased use of alcohol and drugs on weekends may also make a difference.
An interesting side findings is that if one was in an urban vs a rural hospital, or had a specialist vs a generalist, the above findings were lessened.
If the causes of weekend disparity in care can be determined, much can be done to provide more comparable care.
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