Patterns of cardiovascular disease mortality in Ghana: a 5-year review of autopsy cases at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

Objectives: Our study examined age and sex patterns of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality among autopsy cases at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) in Accra, Ghana from 2006 to 2010.

Design: All cardiovascular deaths diagnosed at autopsy in the 5-year period beginning January 2006 and ending December 2010 located in the autopsy logbooks of the Department of Pathology, KBTH, were analyzed for this study. A total of 20,706 autopsy cases were done at KBTH within the five year period out of which 19,289 (93.2%) were analyzed for this study. Chi-square tests were used to show the association between sex and CVD deaths.

Results: The results show that CVD constituted more than one-fifth (22.2%) of all causes of deaths from autopsy cases at KBTH within the 5-year period. The proportionate mortality ratio (PMR) for CVD increased with age, rising steeply in mid-life to peak in the very old, accounting for almost 50% of deaths examined by age 85 years. Also, the findings showed that for the five year period, males had higher proportion of CVD death compared to females (chi2=27.284, P=.000).

Conclusions: In the absence of population-based data, hospital records may serve as a useful tool in epidemiologic surveillance of disease. Thus, efforts should be made at health facilities to document minimal patient characteristics such as the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics to facilitate such studies in the future. In conclusion, further studies may be needed to primarily help in formulating strategies/policies for prevention of cardiovascular disease.