Epidemiological characteristics of patients admitted to the emergency's reception of the University Hospital of Point G, Bamako, Mali.

Abstract

This research aimed to describe the epidemiological characteristics and to analyze predictive factors of clinical status severity for patients admitted to the emergency service of University Hospital of Point G. We used an prospective, descriptive and analytical study and followed up all patients admitted to the emergency service of University Hospital of Point G from July 2012 to June 2013.Data about their clinical status, diagnostic and evolution have been described. The severity of the clinical status of patients was determined by using the Clinical Classification of Patients in emergency. During the study period, 2254 files were collected. The median number of daily admissions per month was 26.83 ± 2.95 patients. The mean age was 49 ± 20 years. One thousand seven hundred seventy seven patients used one to three health structure(s) prior to their admission to the University Hospital. The disease"s evolution was ˃ 7 days in 52.9 % of cases, 59.5 % were referred and 25% had been transported by ambulance. The frequently complaints named at admission were physical asthenia / anorexia, fever / shiver and dizziness. One thousand five hundred ninety five patients (71 %) were "considered serious." The diseases diagnosed were noninfectious in 40 % of cases, infectious in 39% cases and unclear in 21 % of cases. Noninfectious disease was the reason for the University Hospital use for patients "judged sever" in 80 % of cases. The average hospital stay was 2.61 ± 5.30 days. Mortality rate (18.5%) was significantly higher in patients "judged sever" (p = 0.001). These results must push the health authorities to take communication actions toward the public for the promotion of best use of emergencies services.