Trend of adult medical ward admission and outcomes in JUMC: A 5-year retrospective study

Abstract

Background: The reasons for admission in developing countries were predominantly related to communicable diseases. Recently, non-communicable diseases have begun to dominate, against a backdrop of unaddressed communicable diseases. Nonetheless, there is limited data in sub Saharan Africa regarding trends and patterns, and the existing studies have typically been conducted over a short time frame. Our objective was to analyze the trends, patterns, and outcomes of medical admissions over five years at JUMC. Methodology: A retrospective study of patients admitted to JUMC adult medical wards from January 1, 2020, to December 30, 2024, G.C. was conducted. Data were recorded with Kobo toolbox and exported to SPSS (Version 27.0) for statistical analysis. Result: During the study period of five years (January 1, 2020, to December 30, 2024 G.C.), a total of 11,001 patients were admitted to the medical wards of JUMC. Among the admitted patients, 2090 were excluded from the study due to incomplete data, and 8911 were included. Among those admitted to the medical wards, 4918(55.2%) were male, and 3993(44.8%) were female, resulting in a male to female ratio of 1.23:1. The median (IQR) age was 43.17(29.03) years; the highest proportion of admissions, 1627(18.3%), was in the age group 25-34. The reason for admission was 6835(76.6%) non-communicable diseases, while 2,076 (23.3%) were communicable diseases. The primary reasons for non-communicable disease admissions were heart failure (17.6%), stroke (15.8%), and AKI (3.7%). The leading reasons for communicable disease admissions were tuberculosis (6.9%), pneumonia (5.9%), and HIV/AIDS (3.1%). There was a statistically significant positive trend of 237.50 admissions per year, t (1,3) = 3.50, p = .04, 95% CI (21.407-453.593). Most of the admitted patients (68.4%) improved and were discharged,1191(13.4%) died, and the rest 17.2% are either LAMA, referred, or discharged the same. Patients with communicable disease have a 1.31 times higher likelihood of mortality. Conclusion: The trend of admissions and mortality is increasing. Most admissions to JUMC were due to non-communicable diseases in the backdrop of communicable diseases