Stroke Center Designation Cancels Out Weekend Mortality Effect

Stroke Center Designation Cancels Out Weekend Mortality Effect
Friday, September 9, 2011
By: Eleanor McDermid

Eleanor McDermid, MedWire News

Admission to a comprehensive stroke center (CSC) cancels out the increased mortality risk faced by stroke patients admitted at a weekend versus a weekday, research suggests.

Stroke patients admitted to hospitals in New Jersey, USA, were 5 percent more likely to die within 90 days if they were admitted at a weekend, rather than a weekday.

James McKinney (University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick) and team describe this increase as "both significant and clinically meaningful."

They say: "This increase in mortality could account for several thousand deaths annually in the United States."

McKinney et al analyzed data from the Myocardial Infarction Data Acquisition System administrative database for 1996 to 2007. Of 134,441 stroke patients, 23.4 percent were admitted to a CSC, 51.5 percent to a primary stroke center (PSC), and 25.1 percent to a general hospital.