The increasing burden of infectious diseases on hospital services at St Mary's Hospital Lacor, Gulu, Uganda.
To evaluate the impact of infectious diseases on hospital services in Northern Uganda, a retrospective analysis of discharge records concerning 70,304 inpatients admitted to the Lacor Hospital (Gulu, Uganda) during the period 1992-1997 was performed. Children less than five years old represented 46.5% of the admissions, and the burden of infectious diseases on pediatric admissions increased over time, especially due to malaria and measles. Infectious diseases accounted for 7 of the 10 leading causes of admission. The most frequent cause was malaria (21.8% of total). The second leading infectious disease resulting in admission was respiratory tuberculosis (6.2%); given the long hospital stay, this is the most important disease in terms of hospital bed days (24.6%). Infectious diseases have represented a progressively heavy burden on hospital services, mostly due to pediatric admissions. Respiratory tuberculosis and malaria represent nearly one-third of the overall burden in terms of hospital bed days.
Accorsi
S
S
Laboratory of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
Fabiani
M
M
Lukwiya
M
M
Onek
P A
PA
Mattei
P D
PD
Declich
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006767:Hospitals, District / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008288:Malaria / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology; D014454:Uganda / Q000453:epidemiology