SynthesisMedical care2018
Weekend Surgical Care and Postoperative Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies.
Synthesis in Medical care, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 79 citations in OpenAlex.
- Outcomes following out-of-hours acute appendectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Langenbeck's archives of surgery · 2026Pooled it
- Association of weekend admission on immediate postoperative outcomes following non-elective cardiac operations.Surgery open science · 2026Article
- Pre-weekend effect in pulmonary resection for non-small cell lung cancer: a multicenter retrospective cohort study.Surgery today · 2026Observational
- Weekend Hospital Admission and Outcomes Following Emergency Cholecystectomy: A National Analysis of 194,787 Admissions, 2018-2022.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Evaluating the weekend effect on mortality following major emergency general surgeries at a teaching hospital: a 7-year retrospective cohort study.BMC surgery · 2026Article
- Association of weekend delivery and perinatal outcomes following cesarean delivery: a retrospective analysis of a multicenter prospective cohort study in China.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Observational
- Timing of laparoscopic appendectomy and impacts on outcomes: A retrospective study of patients across in-hours, after-hours and holidays.World journal of gastrointestinal surgery · 2026Article
- On Patient Safety: The Weekend Effect.Clinical orthopaedics and related research · 2025Article
- The association between the duration of surgery and risks of mortality and unplanned reoperation is modulated by the surgical start time.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Does the weekend matter? evaluating the weekend effect on pregnancy outcomes in first-cycle fresh IVF/ICSI embryo transfers: a retrospective study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- The weekend effect in pelvic fractures and influence of weekday and weekend accident days: a retrospective study of the German Pelvic Registry.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Colorectal Cancer Surgery During Summer Holidays: How Safe Is It?Journal of gastrointestinal cancer · 2025Article
- Postoperative Outcomes Following Preweekend Surgery.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- What can we learn about the impact of cancelled planned operations on waiting times? A case study using the 2017/18 winter flu postponement policy in England.Health economics review · 2025Article
- Does Timing Matter? The Effect of Intensive Care Unit Arrival Timing on Elective Cardiac Surgery.The Annals of thoracic surgery · 2025Article
- Care coordination and patient safety outcome: a graph-based approach.npj health systems · 2025Article
- Effect of Weekend Admission on Hip Fracture Mortality.Ochsner journal · 2025Article
- Trends and Outcomes in Elective Pediatric Surgery During Weekends.Journal of pediatric surgery · 2025Article
- Risk factors affecting all-cause mortality in cats hospitalized by a referral soft tissue service.Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2024Article
- Health in a Virtual Environment (HIVE): A Novel Continuous Remote Monitoring Service for Inpatient Management.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAn association between weekend health care delivery and poor outcomes has become known as the "weekend effect." Evidence for such an association among surgery patients has not previously been synthesized.
objectiveTo systematically review associations between weekend surgical care and postoperative mortality.
methodsWe searched PubMed, EMBASE, and references of relevant articles for studies that compared postoperative mortality either; (1) according to the day of the week of surgery for elective operations, or (2) according to weekend versus weekday admission for urgent/emergent operations. Odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for postoperative mortality (≤90 d or inpatient mortality) were pooled using random-effects models.
resultsAmong 4027 citations identified, 10 elective surgery studies and 19 urgent/emergent surgery studies with a total of >6,685,970 and >1,424,316 patients, respectively, met the inclusion criteria. Pooled odds of mortality following elective surgery rose in a graded manner as the day of the week of surgery approached the weekend [Monday OR=1 (reference); Tuesday OR=1.04 (95% CI=0.97-1.11); Wednesday OR=1.08 (95% CI=0.98-1.19); Thursday OR=1.12 (95% CI=1.03-1.22); Friday OR=1.24 (95% CI=1.10-1.38)]. Mortality was also higher among patients who underwent urgent/emergent surgery after admission on the weekend relative to admission on weekdays (OR=1.27; 95% CI=1.08-1.49).
conclusionsPostoperative mortality rises as the day of the week of elective surgery approaches the weekend, and is higher after admission for urgent/emergent surgery on the weekend compared with weekdays. Future research should focus on clarifying underlying causes of this association and potentially mitigating its impact.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.