Analysis of pattern of mortality in Medicine and Allied Departments at a tertiary care hospital in Islamabad: A losing battle against sepsis.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the pattern of mortality in medical wards of a tertiary care hospital.

METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted at the Khan Research Laboratories Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan, and comprised medical records of people who died during hospital stay between December 2013 and November 2014.SPSS 11 was used for data analysis.

RESULTS: Of the 3,228 admissions, 105(3.25%) patients expired. Of them, 41(39.04%) were men with a mean age of 55±13.48 years (range: 17-88 years) and 64±11.76 (60.9%) were women with a mean age of 61±15.5 years (range: 23-91 years). The mean length of time between admission and death was 6.58±3.7 days (range: 1-33 days). The causes of death were categorised as infectious in 37(35.23%) patients, cancer-related in 20(19.045%), pulmonary in 19(18.09%), cardiovascular in 18(17.14%), gastrointestinal and neurological in 13(12.38%) each, nephrology in 10(9.52%), autoimmune disorders in 6(5.71%) and miscellaneous in 9(8.57%). Complications of sepsis were the most common cause of death in 38(36.19%) cases.

CONCLUSIONS: Sepsis, primarily from pneumonia, was the major cause of mortality.