Hospitalization patterns of diabetic patients: A six year experience at King Khalid University Hospital

To determine the pattern of hospitalization of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), the computer stored data on admission with DM as the primary or secondary diagnosis to King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia over six years (1986 to 1991) were analyzed. There were 3037 admissions of 2299 patients with diabetes mellitus (2.6% of all hospital admissions), occupying 33,253 hospital bed days (3.5% of all hospitalization days). Twenty-four percent of admissions were recurrent, 4% were frequent (more than once a year) and 6% were prolonged (more than four weeks). DM was the primary diagnosis in 39%, secondary to other illness in 47% and related to diabetes in pregnancy in 14%. Diabetes-related admissions contributed 54% of all hospital bed-days used by patients with DM and were for acute metabolic complications (and hence potentially avoidable) in only 10.6% of these admissions. These patients spent an average 3.26 days per year in hospital, which is double the published expected rates. Pregnancy-related admissions of females with diabetes are short in duration. When diabetes is a secondary diagnosis, the reasons for admission are mostly related to degenerative diseases similar to those in the nondiabetic population. Patients admitted to KKUH with DM are more likely to stay longer and be admitted more often than when DM is a secondary diagnosis. The majority of diabetes-related admissions are nonacute and potentially avoidable. Identification of risk factors for and prevention of lengthy recurrent admissions should be a priority in health care resource allocation.