Abstract
PURPOSE: Sub-Saharan Africa suffers from a dual impact of communicable (CDs) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). There is scarce data on causes, trends of admission, and deaths among patients in Sudan. We aimed to determine the causes, trends of admission, and mortality among adult patients admitted to Gadarif Hospital in Eastern Sudan. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The medical records of adult patients admitted to Gadarif medical wards from January 2017 to December 2020 were reviewed for age, gender, causes of admission, and outcomes. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to analysis factors (age, sex, years, and disease) associated with the mortality. RESULTS: Of the 7230 patients who were admitted, 2221 (34.7%) were females and 5009 (69.3%) were males. The median age (interquartile range, IQR) was 47.0 (35.0) years. Of these 7230 patients, 3167 (43.8%) and 4063 (56.2%) patients were admitted with CDs and NCDs, respectively. Cardiovascular diseases (18.4%), snakebites (12.9%), and visceral leishmaniasis (12.0%) were the most common causes of admission. The overall in-patient adult deaths were 674 (9.3%). Cardiovascular diseases (22.3%), neurological diseases (16.9%), sepsis (15.9%), renal diseases (13.9%), and snakebites (8.3%) were the most common causes of inpatient mortality. Malignancy (20.7%), sepsis (20.9%), neurological diseases (17.4%), and cardiovascular diseases (13.8%) comprised the highest case fatality rates among the admitted patients. Using a Cox regression model (adjusted), age (adjusted hazard ratio = 1.02, 95% confidence interval = 1.01‒1.03) was associated with increased mortality hazard. However, the gender and years of admission were not associated with increased mortality hazard. CONCLUSION: Admissions and mortality rates for CDs and NCDs are high compared with other African countries. Preventive measures are required to avert the high burden of these diseases. Health care systems in Sudan need to be prepared to deal with the dual burden of the diseases.