If the median length of stay for acute myocardial infarction patients is 12 days, what percentage of patients are discharged on or before the twelfth day?

The median is a statistical measure that represents the middle value in a data set when it is ordered from least to greatest. In the context of the median length of stay for acute myocardial infarction patients being 12 days, this means that exactly half of the patients have a length of stay that is less than or equal to 12 days.

Since the median divides the data set into two equal parts, it directly indicates that 50% of patients are discharged on or before this length of stay. This characteristic of the median makes it an important statistic for various analyses in healthcare, as it helps to understand patient flow and resource utilization effectively. Thus, stating that 50% of patients are discharged on or before the twelfth day aligns perfectly with the definition and function of the median in statistics.