Mocanu, et al. conducted a study over a 17-year period from 1995 to 2012, monitoring patients who underwent cardiac surgical procedures, where post operative infection was identified to be an independent predictor of length of stay longer than 9 days. Infection incidence rate significantly increased threefold throughout the study, where the odds ratio for acquiring post operative infection significantly increased every three years. (2,4)
Although much research has been done regarding length of stay and how it relates to specific health conditions, there has been a lack of LOS comparison between specialties in order to determine the disparities between them. This study seeks to understand and address the disparities between various factors influencing a patient’s length of stay and the findings from these studies by investigating if there is a difference in LOS among three departments: cardiology, neurology, and endocrinology.