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

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.