Pattern of Deaths in the Adult Accident and Emergency Department of a Sub-Urban Teaching Hospital in NigeriaPattern of Deaths in the Adult Accident and Emergency Department of a Sub-Urban Teaching Hospital in Nigeria

A. B. Chukuezi ； J. N. Nwosu

《Asian Journal of Medical Sciences》 2卷2期 (2010/03) Pp. 66-69

並列摘要

To review and highlight the demographic patterns of mortality and to determine the frequency and causes of accident and emergency deaths in a sub-urban tertiary care centre of a developing country and suggest measures that might improve the standard of care offered to patients within the adult Accident and Emergency (A&E) department. We conducted a retrospective chart review over a 3 year period (January 2005-December 2007) for all patients who died in the A&E department of Imo State University Teaching Hospital (IMSUTH), Orlu. Casualty records including attendance registers, Nurses' report books and death certificates were used to extract demographic indices and causes of death. The data generated were analyzed using SPSS version 11 software. A total of 5754 attendances were recorded and 281 deaths occurred over the period with crude mortality rate of 4.88%. Male mortalities were 195(69.40%) and females 86(30.60%), ratio 2:3:1. The age ranged from 19 to 100 years averaging 47.32±4.5 years, with more deaths occurring in 41-50 years age group. The most frequent cause of death was Road Traffic Accidents (RTA) with 23.13 %. Most deaths occurred within 10 to 26 hours of arrival at the A&E. Trauma deaths were within the age group of 20-30 years. The need for provision of continuous experienced senior casualty officers with rapid access to appropriate facilities is advocated as well as establishment of an audit protocol. Effective pre-hospital transportation system should be put in place by the government in order to reduced access tim e to the hospital.

並列關鍵字

Accident ； emergency ； hospital ； mortality ； review ； sub-urban