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Distribution and Determinants of Etiologies and Complications of Chronic Liver Diseases Among Patients at a Tertiary Hospital in a Lower Economic Region of Ghana

Received: 4 September 2020    Accepted: 17 September 2020    Published: 25 September 2020
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Abstract

There is dearth of data on the epidemiology of chronic liver diseases (CLDs) in northern Ghana. To this extent, we intended to investigate the distribution and determinants of the etiologies and complications of CLDs at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, a referral hospital of northern Ghana. The medical records of patients with CLDs admitted at the medical ward of Tamale Teaching Hospital from June to December 2019 were reviewed in a retrospective cross-sectional study. Out of 180 patients reviewed, 130 (72.2%) were males; the age range was 18–86 years, with a mean age of 41 43 years. Etiologies of CLDs comprised hepatis B viral infection (53.3%), hepatitis C viral infection (21.7%), unknown (9.4%), hepatocellular carcinoma (8.9%), and alcoholic liver disease (6.7%). Among the complications of CLDs; cirrhosis (71.1%), hypoalbuminemia (59.4%), ascites (58.3%) and jaundice (52.2%) occurred in more than half of the patients. Age (p=<0.001), education (p=0.005) and intake of herbal medicine (p=0.001) were associated with the etiologies of CLDs. There was a significant association between the etiologies of CLDs and complications; cirrhosis (p=<0.001), hypoalbuminemia (p=0.003), ascites (p=<0.001), and jaundice (p=0.009). Hepatitis B and hepatitis C viral infections were the main etiologies of CLDs. Young/middle age, non-education and intake of herbal medicine were risk factors for the main etiologies of CLDs. Cirrhosis, hypoalbuminemia, ascites, and jaundice were the major complications of CLDs. Chronic hepatitis B and C viral infections were risk factors for developing the major complications of CLDs. Implementation of integrated public health strategies targeted at risk groups (young/middle age adults, illiterates, consumers of herbal medicine, patients with hepatitis B and C viral infections) may help curtail the burden of CLDs in northern Ghana.

Published in Central African Journal of Public Health (Volume 6, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.cajph.20200605.16
Page(s) 280-287
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Chronic, Complications, Determinants, Diseases, Distribution, Etiologies, Liver

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    Matthew Aidoo, Baba Sulemana Mohammed. (2020). Distribution and Determinants of Etiologies and Complications of Chronic Liver Diseases Among Patients at a Tertiary Hospital in a Lower Economic Region of Ghana. Central African Journal of Public Health, 6(5), 280-287. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20200605.16

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    Matthew Aidoo; Baba Sulemana Mohammed. Distribution and Determinants of Etiologies and Complications of Chronic Liver Diseases Among Patients at a Tertiary Hospital in a Lower Economic Region of Ghana. Cent. Afr. J. Public Health 2020, 6(5), 280-287. doi: 10.11648/j.cajph.20200605.16

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    AMA Style

    Matthew Aidoo, Baba Sulemana Mohammed. Distribution and Determinants of Etiologies and Complications of Chronic Liver Diseases Among Patients at a Tertiary Hospital in a Lower Economic Region of Ghana. Cent Afr J Public Health. 2020;6(5):280-287. doi: 10.11648/j.cajph.20200605.16

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  • @article{10.11648/j.cajph.20200605.16,
      author = {Matthew Aidoo and Baba Sulemana Mohammed},
      title = {Distribution and Determinants of Etiologies and Complications of Chronic Liver Diseases Among Patients at a Tertiary Hospital in a Lower Economic Region of Ghana},
      journal = {Central African Journal of Public Health},
      volume = {6},
      number = {5},
      pages = {280-287},
      doi = {10.11648/j.cajph.20200605.16},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20200605.16},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.cajph.20200605.16},
      abstract = {There is dearth of data on the epidemiology of chronic liver diseases (CLDs) in northern Ghana. To this extent, we intended to investigate the distribution and determinants of the etiologies and complications of CLDs at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, a referral hospital of northern Ghana. The medical records of patients with CLDs admitted at the medical ward of Tamale Teaching Hospital from June to December 2019 were reviewed in a retrospective cross-sectional study. Out of 180 patients reviewed, 130 (72.2%) were males; the age range was 18–86 years, with a mean age of 41 43 years. Etiologies of CLDs comprised hepatis B viral infection (53.3%), hepatitis C viral infection (21.7%), unknown (9.4%), hepatocellular carcinoma (8.9%), and alcoholic liver disease (6.7%). Among the complications of CLDs; cirrhosis (71.1%), hypoalbuminemia (59.4%), ascites (58.3%) and jaundice (52.2%) occurred in more than half of the patients. Age (p=<0.001), education (p=0.005) and intake of herbal medicine (p=0.001) were associated with the etiologies of CLDs. There was a significant association between the etiologies of CLDs and complications; cirrhosis (p=<0.001), hypoalbuminemia (p=0.003), ascites (p=<0.001), and jaundice (p=0.009). Hepatitis B and hepatitis C viral infections were the main etiologies of CLDs. Young/middle age, non-education and intake of herbal medicine were risk factors for the main etiologies of CLDs. Cirrhosis, hypoalbuminemia, ascites, and jaundice were the major complications of CLDs. Chronic hepatitis B and C viral infections were risk factors for developing the major complications of CLDs. Implementation of integrated public health strategies targeted at risk groups (young/middle age adults, illiterates, consumers of herbal medicine, patients with hepatitis B and C viral infections) may help curtail the burden of CLDs in northern Ghana.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Distribution and Determinants of Etiologies and Complications of Chronic Liver Diseases Among Patients at a Tertiary Hospital in a Lower Economic Region of Ghana
    AU  - Matthew Aidoo
    AU  - Baba Sulemana Mohammed
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    JF  - Central African Journal of Public Health
    JO  - Central African Journal of Public Health
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    AB  - There is dearth of data on the epidemiology of chronic liver diseases (CLDs) in northern Ghana. To this extent, we intended to investigate the distribution and determinants of the etiologies and complications of CLDs at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, a referral hospital of northern Ghana. The medical records of patients with CLDs admitted at the medical ward of Tamale Teaching Hospital from June to December 2019 were reviewed in a retrospective cross-sectional study. Out of 180 patients reviewed, 130 (72.2%) were males; the age range was 18–86 years, with a mean age of 41 43 years. Etiologies of CLDs comprised hepatis B viral infection (53.3%), hepatitis C viral infection (21.7%), unknown (9.4%), hepatocellular carcinoma (8.9%), and alcoholic liver disease (6.7%). Among the complications of CLDs; cirrhosis (71.1%), hypoalbuminemia (59.4%), ascites (58.3%) and jaundice (52.2%) occurred in more than half of the patients. Age (p=<0.001), education (p=0.005) and intake of herbal medicine (p=0.001) were associated with the etiologies of CLDs. There was a significant association between the etiologies of CLDs and complications; cirrhosis (p=<0.001), hypoalbuminemia (p=0.003), ascites (p=<0.001), and jaundice (p=0.009). Hepatitis B and hepatitis C viral infections were the main etiologies of CLDs. Young/middle age, non-education and intake of herbal medicine were risk factors for the main etiologies of CLDs. Cirrhosis, hypoalbuminemia, ascites, and jaundice were the major complications of CLDs. Chronic hepatitis B and C viral infections were risk factors for developing the major complications of CLDs. Implementation of integrated public health strategies targeted at risk groups (young/middle age adults, illiterates, consumers of herbal medicine, patients with hepatitis B and C viral infections) may help curtail the burden of CLDs in northern Ghana.
    VL  - 6
    IS  - 5
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Directorate of Pharmacy, Tamale Teaching Hospital, Tamale, Ghana

  • Department of Pharmacy, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana

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