Medical Admissions Among Geriatric Patients in a Teaching Hopital in South Eastern Nigeria: A 10- Year Review

Abstract

Old age is a risk factor for several diseases that might lead to hospitalization. The geriatric populations are prone to degenerative diseases and decreased body immunity leading to increased susceptibility to several diseases. Information on the pattern and outcome of medical admissions of the elderly patients in Aba, southeast, Nigeria is not known. This study, therefore, set out to bridge this gap in knowledge. This was a 10-year retrospective descriptive study in which data about patients aged 60 years and above admitted to the medical wards of ABSUTH, Aba from May 1, 2007 to April 30, 2017 were extracted from the Admission/Discharge registers in the medical wards. Relevant data obtained were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 software. A total of 6587 medical admissions were recorded within the study period of which 2542 (38.6%) were elderly patients, made up of 1257 (49.4%) males and 1285 (50.6%) females. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) were the predominant diagnoses among the elderly patients in this study and they included diabetes mellitus (DM) related complications, stroke and hypertensive heart failure. With an overall mortality of 24.3% of the geriatric admissions, the commonest cause of death was stroke and majority of the deaths in geriatric patients (76%) occurred within the first 7 days of hospitalization. The geriatric population contributed significantly to medical admissions in Aba, Nigeria. Mortality among the elderly in-patients is high especially from stroke and DM related complications. Geriatric specialists and dedicated stroke units are, therefore, recommended for Nigeria's health facilities.

Keywords: admission patterns, geriatric patients, medical wards, outcome, southeastern Nigeria