Leaving AMA? A bad idea.

A newly published CMAJ study confirms what we probably all intuitively know: leaving hospital against medical advice (AMA) is bad for your health.

This CMAJ study by Garland et al. (DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.130029) used multiple demographic, socioeconomic and clinical factors in consideration of the risks of leaving AMA; the odds ratio of 90-day mortality was 2.51. The effect on mortality persisted 6 months post-discharge.