Acute diseases, emergency admissions and mortality during weekends: should we be worried?

A series of studies has reported a so called “weekend (WE) effect” for hospital admissions, referring to a higher risk for mortality for patients admitted on WE (Saturday to Sunday) than for those admitted on weekdays (WD). A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since, more than fifteen years ago, Bell & Redelmeier reported an association between WE admissions and significantly higher in-hospital mortality (IHM) rates for some acute diseases (1).