Leading causes of hospitalization and mortality at a tertiary health facility in Nigeria: a ten-year (2001 – 2010) trend analysis

Abstract

Background/Objective: Records of hospitalization and within hospital mortality are vital indicators for disease burden and quality of care. Methods/Design: A ten-year clinical data was analyzed to identify changes in hospitalization and mortality as useful indicators of changes in disease burden and quality of health care delivery over time. Results: Between January 2001 and December 2010, 71,647 patients were hospitalized at the National Hospital in Abuja, Nigeria. This is composed of 29,666 (41.4%) male and 41,981 (58.6%) female. Leading causes of hospitalization were: infections, (n=21,491, 30.0%); respiratory diseases, (n=14,329, 20%); trauma, (n=12,897, 18%); cardiovascular diseases, (n=10,747, 15%); neoplasms (n=5,731, 8%) and others, constituting 9%. A total of 2,883 deaths were recorded in this ten-year period. Of those, infections accounted for 614 (21%) followed by neonatal deaths with 416 (16%) and trauma 363 (12%). Neoplasms and cardiovascular diseases each contribute 11% to death cases. Consistent decline in mortality were noted in endocrine and respiratory diseases while increases over time were observed in infectious, neoplastic, neonatal and trauma related deaths. Conclusion: Consistent increase in hospitalization and mortality due to the communicable, non-communicable and trauma related diseases indicates the needs for primary prevention program for measures to contain or mitigate the effect of these scourges.