Stroke patients admitted to hospital on the weekends are more likely to die than patients who are admitted on a weekday, Canadian researchers say.
The study looked at 20,657 stroke patients admitted to 11 facilities across Ontario. Seven days after having a stroke, patients treated on weekends had an 8.1 per cent risk of dying, compared to 7.0 per cent for those treated during the week.
According to the researchers, patients who suffered a moderate to severe stroke were just as likely to be admitted to hospital on weekends as on weekdays, but patients with mild stroke were less likely to be admitted on the weekends.
Regardless, the results stayed the same when age, gender, stroke severity, other medical conditions and the use of clot-prevention medications were considered.
"Patients admitted on weekends were one per cent more likely to die," lead study author Dr. Moira K. Kapral, who was with the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences when the research was done, told Â鶹´«Ã½.
"It may not sound like a large number, but it actually means there could be 140 to 150 patients a year dying because they are admitted on a weekend."
The findings are published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
About 50,000 Canadians are admitted to hospital with a stroke every year, 13,000 of whom are treated on the weekend.
While it is unclear exactly why stroke patients admitted to hospital on weekends have higher death rates, Kapral said theories include hospital staffing, limited access to specialists and procedures being done outside of regular hours. These factors are also included in discussions about why patients suffering from other maladies also fare worse at hospitals on weekends.
But for the patients in the study, the researchers found no differences in the quality of stroke care they received on weekends and week days, including how tests such as brain scans were conducted and timing of hospital admission.
Kapral said her team found one difference, and that is patients who go to hospital on weekends actually suffer from more severe strokes. "So they are sicker than those who come on weekdays, and that's part of the reason they don't do as well."
But what will help all patients have a better outcome is recognizing the sign of a stroke quickly and getting help as soon as possible. Symptoms include:
- Numbness or weakness in the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
- Confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
- Trouble seeing in one or both eyes
- Dizziness, trouble walking, loss of balance or co-ordination
- Sudden, severe headache with no known cause
With a report from CTV's medical specialist Avis Favaro and producer Elizabeth St. Philip
