Does acute myocardial infarction kill more people on weekends? Analysis of in-hospital mortality rates for weekend admissions in Portugal

ObjectivesTo investigate a possible weekend effect in the in-hospital mortality rate for acute myocardial infarction in Portugal, and whether the delay in invasive intervention contributes to this effect.MethodsData from the National 2011–2015 Diagnostic-Related-Group databases were analysed. The focus was on adult patients admitted via the emergency department and with the primary diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. Patients were grouped according to ST-elevation myocardial infarction and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction episodes. We employed multivariable logistic regressions to determine the association between weekend admission and in-hospital mortality, controlling for episode complexity (through a severity index and acute comorbidities), demographic characteristics and hospital identifications. The association between the probability of a prompt surgery (within one day) and the day of admission was investigated to explore the possible delay of care delivery for patients admitted during w...