The Weekend Effect in Older Adult Urosepsis Admissions

Med Care. 2020 Jan;58(1):65-69. doi: 10.1097/MLR.0000000000001225.

Abstract

Background: Urosepsis is common in older adults with more infections identified as community-acquired as opposed to hospital-acquired. Despite the prevalence of urosepsis and its high mortality rates, very little is known about the care outcomes of older adult patients with community-acquired urosepsis who are admitted to the hospital on a weekend.

Objectives: To determine if a weekend admission was associated with inpatient mortality in older adults admitted to an acute care hospital with a diagnosis of community-acquired urosepsis.

Methods: Data from the State Inpatient Datasets for Florida were merged with data from the American Hospital Association Annual Survey on hospital characteristics for the year 2014. Logistic regression models with a sizable number of patient and hospital controls were used to identify factors associated with inpatient mortality in patients 65 years of age and older with a primary or secondary diagnosis of community-acquired urosepsis.

Results: In total 21,904 older adults were admitted to a Florida hospital with a diagnosis of community-acquired urosepsis; 5736 of these patients were admitted on a weekend. In a fully adjusted logistic regression model, weekend admission was associated with a 12% increase in the odds of mortality, and each additional hour of nursing care per patient day was associated with a 2% decrease in the odds of mortality.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that weekend admission was associated with an increase in the odds of mortality in older adults with community-acquired urosepsis. Small increases in nurse staffing seem to reduce the odds of mortality.

MeSH terms

  • After-Hours Care / statistics & numerical data*
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Community-Acquired Infections / mortality
  • Databases, Factual
  • Female
  • Florida / epidemiology
  • Hospital Mortality*
  • Humans
  • Logistic Models
  • Male
  • Patient Admission / statistics & numerical data*
  • Sepsis / mortality*
  • Time Factors
  • Urinary Tract Infections / mortality*