MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY PATTERNS OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS SEEN AT THE UNIVERSITY HEALTH SERVICE, UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN, IBADAN

Abstract

Undergraduate students in tertiary institutions are not immune to morbidity and mortality due to the rigors of academic life and harmful lifestyle behaviours they may adopt in order to cope with tertiary education. Thus this study aims to determine the patterns of morbidity and mortality among undergraduates seen at the University Health Services (UHS), University of Ibadan from January 2003 to December 2008. It also identifies the common causes of morbidity and mortality among undergraduates. A total of 859 hospital records of undergraduate students were reviewed during the study period. Data was collected using a data collection form (proforma). Results obtained were summarized using frequency distribution and proportions. Bivariate analysis was done using Chi-square test •to evaluate associations between exposure and outcome variables. Results revealed that majority of the students were aged between 20 and 24 years (57.6%) with a mean age of 23.4±2.7 years. There was a slight female preponderance (50.3%) with a male to female ratio of l: 1.01. About 94.6% of students seeking medical attention were single while 52.4% of them enrolled for four year degree programmes. Students presented mostly at the Outpatients department (85.4%) with many (78.4%) having a history of self medication. About 28.8% of students visited the clinic twice a year with a mean clinic visit of 2.3±0.4 visits/year. At the Sickbay 37.8% of students seen were admitted usually for two days (52.7%) with a mean duration of admission of 1.8±0.6 days and 87.7% of those admitted were discharged home. Premorbid history of students showed a high incidence ( 49. 7%) of Allergies. The common symptoms noted were headaches (23.2%) fever, (12.5%) and cold (12.5%) while the common causes of morbidity were malaria (38.0%), respiratory infections (8.0%) and typhoid fever (6.9%). About 13 deaths were recorded during the review period with 69.2% mortality occurring in the males. Although the causes of mortality were mostly unknown (38.4%), road traffic accidents (23.1%), drowning (15.4%) and stab injuries (15.4%) were reported. The trend in mortality and morbidity showed an increase from 0% to 38.4% for mortality while an increase from 3.23% to 32.25% was noted for morbidity. A high incidence of communicable diseases was noted among students in this study while the causes of death were largely unknown. Thus, in ensuring good health and excellent academic performance of students the university administration and the UHS need to be proactive in tackling the health issues of students in order to reduce morbidity and mortality through the provision of clean environments and potable water supply, regular health talks and medical screening.