A two-year review of medical admissions at the emergency unit of a Nigerian Tertiary Health Facility

The main objective of this study is to describe the spectrum of medical conditions presenting at the emergency department of the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, Nigeria over a two year period. This is a retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected data. Data was collected from the emergency room admission records, patients’ case records, as well as Department of Medicine’s weekly morbidity report .Information collected included patients’ age, gender, date of admission, and clinical diagnoses. All the diagnoses were classified into the medical specialty they belong to as well as into a broad category of infectious and non-communicable diseases. A total of 2377 patients were admitted in the hospital during the period under review. The highest proportion of admissions was is the 30-39 years age group (17.6%), followed by 40-49 years (17.0%) and 20-29 (16.7%) age groups. Infectious diseases accounted for the highest incidence of admissions (1132; 47.6%). This was followed by diseases of the cardiovascular system (414; 17.4%), central nervous (227; 9.5%) and endocrine (193; 8.1%) systems, respectively. The least proportion of admissions was accounted for by dermatological conditions (4; 0.2%). Overall, non- communicable diseases accounted for 1245 (52.4%) of the cases and communicable diseases for 1132(47.4%). Our study shows that non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are more likely reasons for adult Nigerians living in this Nigerian city to present for acute care. It also shows that age of presentation is at the prime of life. It is suggested that efforts should be geared towards control of emerging NCDs as well as control of prevailing common communicable diseases.