ADMISSION OF HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BENIN TEACHING HOSPITAL, NIGERIA

Abstract

ABSTRACT
Background: There is a suggestion of an identifiable impact of hypertension on all cause mortality
in rural Africa. There is however paucity of hard data on the impact of morbidity or modality from
this disease.
Objective: To determine the contribution of hypertension (HT) to adult morbidity and mortality
at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) in Benin City, Nigeria.
Design: Retrospective study.
Setting: University of Benin Teaching Hospital.
Subjects: Adult hypertensive admissions (HTA) in Benin City, Edo state, Nigeria during the period
January 2000 to December 2002.
Results: There were a total of 2,852 adult medical admissions during the study period out of which
575 were because of hypertension related morbidity. Only 302 (52.5%) of these were previously
diagnosed as hypertensives). The most common hypertensive complication was cerebrovascular
accident followed by congestive cardiac failure and chronic renal failure in order of decreasing
frequency. The annual adult mortality rate from medical admissions was 5.6%. Mortality due to
hypertensive complications constituted 10.5% of overall hospital adult mortality and 16.1% of
deaths from medical causes. The annual mortality rate among HTA was 22.1% (252/1000) with a
male:female ratio of 2:1.
Conclusion: The contribution of systemic hypertension to adult morbidity and mortality is very
significant. There is need for more concerted effort to create hypertension awareness, and to achieve
good control and prevention of hypertensive complications.