title: Magnitude and leading causes of in-hospital mortality at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, northern Nigeria: a 4-year prospective analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Population based mortality data are scarce especially in developing countries including Nigeria. Despite its limitations, hospital mortality analysis assesses the quality of health-care delivery and provides a proximate measure of mortality. We reviewed the magnitude and causes of death among in-patients in a tertiary hospital in northern Nigeria.
  
  
  METHODS
  Analysis of mortality rate and causes of death for the period 2005-2008 (inclusive) in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. Causes of death were prospectively entered on a database and classified according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD- 10).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of 51,975 patients admitted to the hospital, 4,029 of them died. This gives a mortality rate of 7.8% (95% Confidence Interval of 7.5% to 8.0%). Specifically, of the 15,484 males admitted, 2,361 died giving a mortality rate of 15.2% while of the 36,491 females admitted, 1,668 died giving a mortality rate of 4.6%. The median age for all patients that died was 32.4 years (range: less than 1 day to 101 years), but 36.1 years (range: less than 1 day to 101 years) for the male and 29.3 (range: less than 1 day to 87 years) for the female subsets. The ten most common causes of mortality were HIV/AIDS (8.3%), Septicaemia (6.8%), cerebrovascular disease (6.3%), chronic renal failure (3.9%) chronic liver disease (3.3%), diabetes mellitus (3.2), neonatal jaundice (2.9%), severe birth asphyxia (2.6%), prematurity (2.5%) and bronchopneumonia (2.4%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The mortality rate and causes of death are comparable to similar centres. Regular mortality audits could identify management errors and prevent recurrence of avoidable deaths.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. ziliasu@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Zubairu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Iliyasu
authors.forename: Isa Sadeeq
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Abubakar
authors.forename: Auwal Umar
authors.initials: AU
authors.lastname: Gajida
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007297:Inpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D055815:Young Adult