Siraj Munir Ahmed Tarin, Misbahul Islam Khan.
Pattern of diabetic admissions in medical ward.
Pak J Med Res Jan ;43(4):157-62.

This prospective, hospital based, cross sectional study was done at Medical unit II, Nishtar Hospital Multan, for a period of six months to analyze the pattern of diabetic admissions in medical ward. During the study period, 162 diabetic patients were admitted to Medical Unit II, Nishtar Hospital. The results indicated that diabetes was a major health problem with high admission (9.87%) and fatality rates (16%). Diabetic admissions lasted longer than the average hospital admission (6.6 versus 3.2 days) whether this was for the control of diabetes or the management of complications. Reasons for hospitalization were infections (24.1%), neurological disease (19.1%), cardiac disease (16.7%), acute metabolic complications of diabetes (13.6%), renal disease (9.9%), diabetic foot (4.9%) and miscellaneous conditions (11.7%).Few patients were admitted with the classical symptoms of polydipsia, polyphagia and polyuria. More patients were admitted with infections, macrovascular disease (cardiovascular and cerebrovascular) and renal disease. The most common associated condition was hypertension which was present in 36.4% of the patients. The mortality rate among diabetic patients was higher (16%) as compared to the other ward cases (12%). The picture of diabetes mellitus in Pakistan is in epidemiological transition and there is need for comprehensive descriptive studies, which may help to fill existing gaps in knowledge. Efforts should focus on identification of risk factors for the prevention of lengthy, recurrent and avoidable admissions of patients with diabetes mellitus. Resource utilization could be more optimized if the avoidable admissions of diabetics are reduced by education and effective preventive outpatient care.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com