Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Hernia is one of the most common surgery-requiring conditions. Despite this, hernia still needs to be studied in more detail. The main objective of the study was to find out the prevalence of hernia among patients admitted to the Department of Surgery of a tertiary care centre. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among patients admitted to the Department of Surgery of a tertiary care centre from 1 July 2021 to 31 December 2022. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: 202/2079/80). The patient admitted to the Department of Surgery during the study period was included and those with incomplete data were excluded. A convenience sampling method was used. Point estimate and 95% Confidence Interval were calculated. RESULTS: Among 3236 patients, the prevalence of hernia was 749 (23.14%) (21.69-24.59, 95% Confidence Interval). The inguinal hernia was the most common type found in 574 (77.25%), followed by an umbilical hernia in 64 (8.61%). A total of 79 (10.55%) had comorbidity among patients with hernia. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of hernia in our study was found to be higher than in other studies done in similar setting. Easily accessible health facilities, competent primary surgical care and health education should be taken into account by the policymakers to reduce the morbidity and mortality of this condition. KEYWORDS: hernia; inguinal hernia; prevalence; surgery; umbilical hernia.