Diabetes mellitus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: admissions, complications and outcomes in a large referral hospital.

Setting: The Black Lion Referral Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Objective: To document indications for admission, complications and outcomes of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) admitted between 2010 and 2013.

Design: A descriptive retrospective study using medical files.

Results: Of 8048 admissions, 523 (6.5%) had DM; of these, 418 medical records were retrieved: 301 (72%) patients had type 2 and 104 (28%) type 1 disease, with male sex (62%) and older age (median age 60 years) being features of type 2 disease. Main admission diagnoses for type 2 disease were diabetic foot ulcer (39%) and cardiovascular disease (21%); for type 1 disease, it was diabetic ketoacidosis (62%). Hypertension, neuropathy, nephropathy, retinopathy and diabetic foot accounted for 85% of the 756 existing complications. Overall in-patient mortality was 21%. Of the 89 deaths, 77 occurred among patients with type 2 disease; the main indications for admission were diabetic foot ulcer/gangrene and cardiovascular disease.

Conclusion: DM, especially type 2 DM, is an important cause of admission to Ethiopia's largest referral hospital. Many patients had already developed disease-related complications at admission, and mortality was high. There is a need to improve awareness about and care for DM in Ethiopia.