Trends of diabetes mellitus and hypertension at Nigist Eleni Mohammed General Hospital, Hossana, Ethiopia (December 2010-January 2014): a five year longitudinal study

Abstract

BackgroundThe burden of chronic diseases is rapidly increasing worldwide. In 2005, at least 35 million people of all ages, nationalities, and socioeconomic levels died from heart disease, stroke, diabetes, respiratory disease, and other chronic diseases. It has been projected that, by 2020, chronic diseases will account for almost three-quarters of all deaths worldwide, and that 70% of deaths due to diabetes will occur in developing countries.MethodsA five years medical records on diabetes mellitus and hypertension diseases was reviewed by using longitudinal study design. A total of 3393 cases (1907 hypertension and 1486 diabetes mellitus disease) were observed. A total of four data collectors were assigned in the data collection process. The study was conducted by using the standardized data collection tool (checklist) developed by the investigators. Data was coded and entered into a data base and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Descriptive and chi-square test a technique with a confidence level of 95% was used to determine the disease trend across the year.ResultFrom the total of 1907 hypertension cases 1095 (57.4%) were male and 812 (42.6%) were females. In line with this the prevalence of hypertension was relatively higher among male than female in the same age categories. On the other hand, from the total of 1486 diabetes mellitus cases, 900(60.6%) were male and 586 (39.4%) were females. Moreover, the disease proportion was higher in males than females of the same age categories. The annual average increase of the diabetes mellitus was 5.4%, and this result was greater than the disease projections made by the international diabetes mellitus federations in 2012 (3.32%). However, the actual prevalence of diabetes mellitus in Ethiopia could be as high as 8% as suggested by some institution-based studies, aside from what is projected by the international diabetes mellitus federations. On the other hand, the annual average increase of the hypertension was 8%. This average rate of change was less when compared to the prevalence rate of 31% in selected hospitals in Addis Ababa and the prevalence rate of 10% in Butajira. The observed number of both the hypertension and diabetes mellitus cases in each year was statistically significant with the expected number of cases X2 (p < 0.05).ConclusionThe magnitude of hypertension and diabetes mellitus is higher in males than in females. This study also revealed that the observed trend of each disease is statistically significant with the expected trend of each disease across the year.