Retrospective Analysis of Mortality in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital in South India

Abstract

Introduction: Mortality data reveals much about the health of the population. Traditionally and universally,most epidemiological studies begin with mortality data. Mortality characteristics and the audit give a myriad ofinformation. This helps to identify trends of mortality. Mortality audit of mortality data is essential to improvehospital services and helps in proper allocation of resources. Hence this study was conducted to identify themortality characteristics of the patients admitted in the year 2021 in the Tertiary care hospital in South India.Material and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted after Institutional ethical clearance with mortalityrecords pertaining to the patients admitted to Hangal Sri Kumareshwar Hospital and Medical Research Center,Bagalkot, Karnataka during the year 2021. The data retrieved included demographic characteristics like ageand sex, place of residence, ward of admission and causes of death classified according to ICD 10th revision andanalysed using percentages and chi-square test and a p value of less than 0.05 was considered as significant in allthe tests.Results: Out of 592 deaths in 2021, 64.19% were males and 35.81% were females. Majority of the deaths (34.46%)occurred between the ages of 41 to 60 years followed by 61 to 80 years (27.20%). Communicable diseases contributedto 54.56% of the total deaths (p= 0.0022).Conclusion: Statistical analysis of causes of death from mortality statistics is the backbone of National healthpolicy and planning of health programs. It monitors the trend in public health issues like infant mortality, maternalmortality, infectious diseases, accidents and suicides.