A five-year review of the pattern and outcome of cardiovascular diseases admissions at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: In Nigeria, there is increasing urbanization and westernization of the population with resultant increase in non-communicable diseases. Though records of hospital admissions may not indicate the actual prevalence of such diseases in the community, it may provide clues about pattern and assist in disease-specific health promotion and education. Objective: We, therefore, undertook this study to describe the pattern and outcome of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) admissions in a new referral hospital in Nigeria. Methods: A five-year retrospective analysis of CVD admissions into the Medical Wards of Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital from May 2008 to April 2013 was done. SPSS IBM 20 software was used to analyze data. Results: A total of 3,076 medical admissions were recorded with 1,009 (32.80%) being CVD. Mean age of CVD patients was 61.16±15.95 years. Patients aged >65 years accounted for 478 (47.8%) of the admissions. The 3 major CVD admissions were cerebrovascular diseases (47.7%), heart failure (27.6%), and hypertensive diseases (22.0%). Deaths due to CVD were 192 (19.0%) comprising mostly 136 (13.51%), 43 (4.26%), and 12 (1.19%) of deaths due to cerebrovascular disease, heart failure, and hypertensive diseases, respectively. Most deaths occurred within 3 days of admission with a decline in mortality with increasing length of hospital stay thereafter. Mean duration of hospitalization was 8.76±7.23 days. Conclusion: Admissions from CVD to the medical wards in this hospital are high, so is mortality from them. We advocate for preventive strategies to reduce the burden of CVD and improved health care facilities to improve outcomes of their treatment.