학술논문

Non-communicable disease burden among inpatients at a rural district hospital in Malawi
Document Type
article
Source
Global Health Research and Policy, Vol 8, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2023)
Subject
Malawi
Non-communicable disease
Burden of disease
Inpatient
Rural
Hospital
Public aspects of medicine
RA1-1270
Language
English
ISSN
2397-0642
Abstract
Abstract Background The burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is high in Malawi. However, resources and training for NCD care remain scarce, especially in rural hospitals. Current care for NCDs in the developing world focuses on the WHO’s traditional 4 × 4 set. However, we do not know the full burden of NCDs outside of that scope, like neurological disease, psychiatric illness, sickle cell disease, and trauma. The goal of this study was to understand the burden of NCDs among inpatients in a rural district hospital in Malawi. We broadened our definition of NCDs beyond the traditional 4 × 4 set of NCDs, and included neurological disease, psychiatric illness, sickle cell disease, and trauma. Methods We conducted a retrospective chart review of all inpatients who were admitted to the Neno District Hospital between January 2017 and October 2018. We broke patients down by age, date of admission, type, and number of NCD diagnoses, and HIV status, and constructed multivariate regression models for length of stay and in-hospital mortality. Results Of 2239 total visits, 27.5% were patients with NCDs. Patients with NCDs were older (37.6 vs 19.7 years, p