Spectrum and Prevalence of GIT Admissions at a Tertiary Hospital in a Resource Poor Setting, Northwestern Nigeria: A Five Year Review

A. Yakubu, S.A. Maiyaki, A.A. Musa, A. Sakajiki, H. Umar

Gastrointestinal, GIT, gastrointestinal disease.

Background:Gastrointestinal tract diseases cause a significant global health problem, approximately accounts for 8 million deaths per year worldwide. This study aims to describe the pattern of Gastrointestinal (GIT) disease cases seen at thein-service medical wards of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto, Nigeria.

Materials and Methods: A retrospective hospital-based review of GIT admission obtained from 1^st January 2013 to 31^st of December 2017 in the Department of Internal Medicine of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital Sokoto state Nigeria. The hospital draws its patients from Sokoto and neighboring Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina and Niger states.  Data were extracted from patients’ case folders.  The data were validated using Microsoft excel version 13 and exported to SPSS version 23.0 (Chicago IL) for windows; for statistical analysis.

Result:There were a total of 1266 GIT patients admitted during the study period, 688(54.3%) were males, and 578(45.7%) were females, with a male to female ratio of 1.2:1. The mean age of the study participants was 39.4 with SD± 18.4 and the age range of 1-100 years respectively. The peak age incidence occurred within third-fifth decade accounted for 764(64%) The result indicated that age was found to be a significant factor in association with GIT disorders (X² = 481.1, DF = 152,   P<0.05).

Conclusion: Determination of the various GI disease conditions and the factors responsible for variability in incidence and outcomes of diseases will allow clinicians, public health professionals, policymakers, and healthcare organizations to intervene in a more scientifically  logical way thereby ensuring effective resource allocation to decrease the overall burden of gastrointestinal disease.

https://doi.org/10.31871/WJRR.11.4.4