Mortality characteristics in Sudan in national psychiatric hospitals: 5-year review of hospital mortality

Abstract

Background: Re-auditing mortality of inpatient psychiatric service for a span of time extending to 14 years is scarce in low-resource countries. We are reporting a 5-year mortality study to complete an audit cycle with a previous 9-year mortality research published a few years ago. It serves to improve the standard of care in low-resource settings. Results: Out of a total of 7340 (4890 men and 2450 women) admissions to all national psychiatric hospitals in Khartoum over a 5-year period, 36 (23 men and 13 women) patients died while receiving inpatient psychiatric treatment. The mortality rate in this sample was 4.9 (4.7 for men and 5.3 for women). Among all deaths, 30.6% were diagnosed with schizophrenia, while mania constituted 25%, major depression 15% and organic psychosis 11.3%, and 11.1% were considered to be due to alcohol- and/or drug-related disorders. There was no single case of unnatural death in this sample. Twenty patients (55.6%) died following circulatory failure (sudden death), four (11.1%) as a result of an infection, three (8.3%) from renal failure, two (5.6%) secondarily to NMS, two (5.6%) from diabetic complications and four patients as a result of ECT, GIT bleeding, ischaemic heart disease and alcohol complications. Conclusion: Circulatory failure and infection are the main causes of death in psychiatric hospitals in Sudan, calling for an intense investigation to resolve these preventable problems.