Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2013 Sep;31(9):1806-11.
doi: 10.1097/HJH.0b013e328362bad7.

Hypertension-related diseases as a common cause of hospital mortality in Tanzania: a 3-year prospective study

Robert N Peck  1 , Ethan Green, Jacob Mtabaji, Charles Majinge, Luke R Smart, Jennifer A Downs, Daniel W Fitzgerald
Affiliations
Observational Study

Hypertension-related diseases as a common cause of hospital mortality in Tanzania: a 3-year prospective study

Robert N Peck et al. J Hypertens. 2013 Sep.

Abstract

Objective: Hypertension is believed to be an increasingly common driver of the epidemic of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in sub-Saharan Africa, but prospective data are scarce. The objective of this prospective study was to determine the contribution of hypertension to deaths, admissions, and hospital days at a Tanzanian zonal hospital.

Methods: Between 2009 and 2011, diagnoses were recorded for all medical admissions together with age, sex, length of hospitalization and in-hospital mortality.

Results: Among 11045 consecutive admissions, NCDs accounted for nearly half of all deaths, admissions, and hospital days. Among NCDs, hypertension-related diseases were the most common and accounted for 314 (33.9%) of the total NCD deaths, 1611 (29.9%) of the NCD admissions, and 12837 (27.8%) NCD hospital days. Stroke (167 deaths) was the leading cause of hypertension-related death. Hypertension was the leading cause of death in patients over the age of 50 years and 57% of hypertension-related deaths occurred in patients less than 65 years old.

Conclusion: NCDs account for half of all deaths, admissions and hospital days at our Tanzanian hospital and hypertension-related diseases were the most common NCD. Hypertension accounted for 34% of NCD deaths and 15% of all deaths. Hypertension was the second most common cause of death overall and the leading cause of death in patients more than 50 years old. More than half of hypertension-related deaths occurred before retirement age. These findings have important implications for public health and medical education in sub-Saharan Africa, wherein hypertension and related diseases have not traditionally been given a high priority.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Proportion of Deaths Attributable to Non-Communicable and Hypertension-Related Causes Among Adult Medical Inpatients at Bugando Medical Centre (2009-2011).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Numbers of Deaths Due to Different Causes by Age Category Among Adult Medical Inpatients at Bugando Medical Centre (2009-2011). Panel A Displays the Number of Deaths Due to Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases in Each Age Category. Panel B Displays the Number of Deaths and the Percentage of Total Deaths Due to Hypertension-Related Diseases.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mshana SE, Kamugisha E, Mirambo M, Chakraborty T, Lyamuya EF. Prevalence of multiresistant gram-negative organisms in a tertiary hospital in Mwanza, Tanzania. BMC Research Notes. 2009;2:49. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wandwalo ER, Mørkve O. Delay in Tuberculosis Case-Finding and Treatment in Mwanza, Tanzania. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2000;4(2):133–8. - PubMed
    1. Wajanga BM, Kalluvya S, Downs J a, Johnson WD, Fitzgerald DW, Peck RN. Universal screening of Tanzanian HIV-infected adult inpatients with the serum cryptococcal antigen to improve diagnosis and reduce mortality: an operational study. J Int AIDS Soc. 2011;14(1):48. - PMC - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization . WHO Global Report: Non-communicable diseases country profiles. Geneva, Switzerland: 2011. Available from: http://www.who.int/nmh/publications/ncd_profiles2011/en/index.html.
    1. Mayosi BM, Flisher AJ, Lalloo UG, Sitas F, Tollman SM, Bradshaw D. The burden of non-communicable diseases in South Africa. Lancet. 2009;374(9693):934–47. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources