Medical admissions and the role of patient non-complianee

Abstract EN

Objective : Study the admission patterns of medical inpatients over a period of one month, to find out the sources of these admissions, their reasons and their appropriateness.

Design and Setting : A prospective study analysis of medical admissions at the Accident and £mergency Department (AE), Salmaniya Medical Centre, Bahrain was carried out to evaluate the frequency and reasons for medical admissions and any attributable causes for repeated admissions in some patients.

Results : Eighty six percent of all medical admissions were through the AE and 14 % through the general and private clinics.

Sixty six percent of medical admissions through the AE were first acute admissions and 34 % were repeat admissions for exacerbations of chronic illnesses.

67.8 % of repeat admissions were due to unavoidable reasons like intractable or progressive disease or the onset of precipitating events like infections.

However nearly one third (28.2 %) of repeat admissions and thus 9.5 % of total admissions were related to non-compliance with medication on the part of the patient.