title: The Changing Pattern of Hospital Admission to Medical Wards: Burden of non-communicable diseases at a hospital in a developing country.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to determine the pattern of hospital admissions and patient outcomes in medical wards at Atbara Teaching Hospital in River Nile State, Sudan.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted from August 2013 to July 2014 and included all patients admitted to medical wards at the Atbara Teaching Hospital during the study period. Morbidity and mortality data was obtained from medical records. Diseases were categorised using the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases (ICD) coding system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 2,614 patient records were analysed. The age group with the highest admissions was the 56-65-year-old age group (19.4%) and the majority of patients were admitted for one week or less (86.4%). Non-communicable diseases constituted 71.8% of all cases. According to ICD classifications, patients were admitted most frequently due to infectious or parasitic diseases (19.7%), followed by diseases of the circulatory (16.4%), digestive (16.4%) and genito-urinary (13.8%) systems. The most common diseases were cardiovascular disease (16.4%), malaria (11.3%), gastritis/peptic ulcer disease (9.8%), urinary tract infections (7.2%) and diabetes mellitus (6.9%). The mortality rate was 4.7%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The burden of non-communicable diseases was found to exceed that of communicable diseases among patients admitted to medical wards at the Atbara Teaching Hospital.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medicine, Nile Valley University, Atbara, Sudan;
authors.forename: Sufian K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Noor
authors.affiliation: Pathology, Nile Valley University, Atbara, Sudan;
authors.forename: Wadie M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Elmadhoun
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medicine, Nile Valley University, Atbara, Sudan;
authors.forename: Sarra O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Bushara
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Eaglestone, Buckinghamshire, UK.
authors.forename: Mohamed H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Ahmed
keywords: Hospital Mortality; International Classification of Diseases; Patient Admissions; Patient Outcome Assessment; Sudan