Hospitalization patterns of Ethiopians with diabetes mellitus

A survey of diabetic patients of all inpatient services in Yekatit 12 Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was made for 6 mo in 1984. There were 121 hospitalizations of 116 diabetics in 3453 admissions to this 305-bed general hospital. Only 39 of the 116 were already known to its diabetes clinic; there were 24 new cases. Mean duration of hospitalization was 21.3 days, and 19.7% of bed use on medical wards during the survey was by diabetics. More than one-third of known diabetics rarely or never saw a physician until incapacitating symptoms or intercurrent illness resulted in hospitalization. Twenty-one (18%) died, one-third of chronic renal failure. I conclude that diabetes mellitus is a frequent cause of morbidity and mortality in an Ethiopian hospital, indicating that efficient facilities for outpatient education and stabilization are needed for Ethiopia's diabetics, particularly because inpatient facilities are scarce and resources limited. This is the first report from an African nation of hospitalization patterns of diabetic subjects.