Indications and outcome of admission of diabetic patients into the medical wards in a Nigerian tertiary hospital- Atwo year review

Abstract

Background/ objectives: In 2013, two – third of the estimated 318 million individuals living with diabetes resided in developing countries. The determination of the burden of diabetes in hospitals will help in designing an efficient tool for planning, delivery and evaluation of targeted interventions.

Patient/materials and methods: A retrospective description of both types 1 and 2 diabetics at the medical wards of Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2013. Age, gender, diagnosis and outcome were extracted fromadmissions/discharge logs. Diagnosis of diabetes was based on fasting blood glucose =7mmol/L on =2 occasions. Severe hypertension was defined as =160/100 mmHg. Analysis of data was done using Epi Info version 2.3. The qualitative data were expressed as frequencies and percentages and quantitative data were expressed as mean and standard deviation (SD).

Results: A total of 195 diabetics were admitted with 187 (95.9%) type 2 diabetics and 8 (4.1%) type 1 diabetics. There were 113 (57.9%) males and 82 (42.1%) females with a gender difference of 1.3:1. The mean age was 53.5±15.7 years. The age range 51 – 60 years had the highest number of patients on admission. Majority (76.9%) of admissions was through the emergency unit. The commonest indication for admission was hyperglycemia (60.5%). Most (76.9%) were discharged, 8.2% died, 6.2% were transferred-out, 5.6% were referred to other centres and 3.1% discharged against medical advice.

Keywords: indication, outcome, admission, diabetes, hyperglycemia