Annals of Thoracic Medicine (Jan 2006)
Prevalence of respiratory diseases in hospitalized patients in Saudi Arabia: A 5 years study 1996-2000
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: 1) To determine the prevalence of respiratory diseases and the length of stay among hospitalized patients with respiratory disorders 2) To detect the medical disorders commonly associated with respiratory diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review was done for 810 patients hospitalized with respiratory diseases in King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, over 5 years (January 1996 to December 2000). A special form was used to collect information from patient medical records including demographic data (such as age, sex and nationality), discharge diagnosis with other associated diseases and length of stay during hospitalization. RESULTS: Fifty-five percent of patients were males and 56.3% were Saudis. The mostly affected age group was 46-65 years (41.8%). Asthma (38.6%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (17.2%), pneumonia (11.5%), lung cancer (8.4%) and tuberculosis (TB) (7.2%) had the highest prevalence among hospitalized patients. Asthma was higher among females (63.3%) than males (36.7%). In contrast, lung cancer, COPD and TB were higher among males (88.2, 66.9 and 74.1%) than females (11.8, 33.1 and 25.9%) respectively ( P P CONCLUSION: Asthma, COPD and pneumonia were the leading causes of hospitalization among patients with respiratory disorders, while diabetes and hypertension were the most commonly associated diseases.
