Pattern of presentation of diseases at the university of Benin teaching hospital gastroenterology out patients’ clinic.

Abstract

This study set out to assess the pattern of presentation of diseases in the gastroenterology outpatients’ clinic of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria.
Method: The Gastroenterology clinic records of the hospital for a period of one year were reviewed retrospectively and the relevant data extracted from them and analyzed.
Results: A total of 1232 patients were seen during the study period of which 675 (54.8%) of the patients seen were female, while 557 (45.2%) were male. The ages of majority of the patients ranged from 21 to 70 years. The most common condition encountered in the clinic was peptic ulcer disease (33.9%), followed by chronic liver disease (15.4%), then acute hepatitis (9.6%), gastroesophageal reflux disease (6.7%), hepatocellular carcinoma (5.9%), and then chronic hepatitis (5.2%).