Morbidity and mortality patterns among patients in a tertiary hospital, South-west, Nigeria: a five-year retrospective study

Abstract

Objectives: Morbidity and mortality statistics are essential tools for assessing population health status as well as effective elements to adapt to the changing epidemiological trends. This study aimed to assess the morbidity and mortality pattern in the facility while also looking into the patterns of presentation at the facility. Methods: A hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study was employed, involving the review of patient’s medical records from January 2016 to December 2020. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 24.0. Descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution, percentages and central tendencies were used. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Results: A total of 2,809 patient records were scrutinized from January 2016 to December 2020. The mean age of the respondents was 27±20.5 years, the majority were urban dwellers (91.4%) and males were predominant (55.7%). Infectious and parasitic diseases were found to have the highest prevalence among the respondents (44.1%). Diseases of the respiratory system and the circulatory system had a prevalence of 14.9% and 4.2% respectively. The mortality rate among the respondents was 3.6%. Conclusion: The morbidity pattern in this facility was largely dominated by infectious and parasitic diseases thus showing that communicable diseases such as Malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis are still prevalent in Nigeria with a high burden on the health system. There is an urgent need to strengthen disease prevention measures across all levels of Health care to stem this tide.