Mortality pattern and causes at the adult medical unit of the Accident and Emergency Department of a tertiary health care facility in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Information from mortality data is invaluable in assessing health care needs of a society. Medical conditions presenting to the adult emergency department form the bulk of hospital admissions and mortality.

Objective: This study is determine the crude mortality rate, pattern of mortality and causes of death in the medical emergency department of a teaching hospital in urban Nigeria.

Methods: Retrospective review of the admissions and death registers of all patients admitted into the medical section of the adult emergency department of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, from November 2013 to October 2015 was done. Data collected include age, gender, address, date and time of arrival in the A and E, date and time of death, presenting complaints and cause of death. Data was entered into excel sheet and analyzed using the SPSS version 21.0.

Results: A total of 362 deaths out of the 2102 patients admitted into the medical emergency department were recorded during the study period giving a crude mortality of 17.2%. The mean age was 50.7(17.4) years. The male: female ratio was 1.3: 1,with no significant age difference between both gender. The age group 41 – 60 years accounted for the highest proportion (33.4%) of deaths. Stroke was the leading cause of death accounting for 37.8%, followed by hyperglycaemic emergencies (9.9%) and HIV associated illnesses(8.0%).

Conclusion: The crude mortality rate from medical emergencies was high with adults in the prime of life mostly affected. Non-communicable diseases (of which stroke was the highest) were the main causes of death.

Keywords: Mortality rate, Medical emergency, Noncommunicable diseases, causes of death, Mortality pattern