| Abstrakt: |
Background The magnitude of communicable diseases in the West Region of Cameroon, including their impact on mortality is not known. This study was conducted in Dschang, Cameroon to identify paramount community diseases to enable policy makers to develop appropriate intervention strategies for healthcare delivery. Methods For eight months, admission records of patients at the Dschang District Hospital, the Adlucem Medical Foundation and the Hôpital Saint Vincent de Paul were reviewed. Of 22,841 admissions from 1990-2006, 21,780 patient records were retrieved, 2,664 records from 1990- 2000 had no daily observations and 511 records were destroyed by water, rodents and insects. There were 737 (3%) deaths, but mortality from diseases could not be ascertained. Thus, due to nondocumentation of clinical data and poor records keeping, of 19,116 records from 2001-2006, only 12,917 (68%) records of patients who survived longer than 72 hours and were not transferred to other hospitals, were reviewed, and data analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Results In the medical units, most patients were hospitalised for infectious diseases (79%), with no recorded epidemics during the study period. Malaria (54%) was significantly (p<0.01) related to morbidity, followed by gastroenteritis (23%), respiratory infections (9%) and HIV/ AIDS (7%). For non-infectious conditions, diabetes (25%) and hypertension (17%) were predominant in adults, so were anaemia (31%) and malnutrition (21%) in children. Many adult females (22%) also suffered from heart disease. Accidents, herniorrhaphy, caesarean section, exploratory laparotomy, appendectomy, hysterectomy, fractures and cystostomy accounted for >85% operative procedures. Conclusion Based on the findings of this review various strategies have been implemented in Dashang. These include eradication and control measures for highly endemic disease conditions identified herein, and suitable diagnostic procedures including culture/antimicrobial testing which have been accorded priority consideration in the study region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
