Morbidity diagnosed in an internal medicine department of a secondary care center (Msaken, Sousse, Tunisia).

Introduction: Internal Medicine is an essential component of the clinical platform of regional hospitals (relay between district hospitals and reference university hospitals).

Objective: To describe the morbidity diagnosed at Medicine department of the regional hospital of Msaken (Sousse, Tunisia), taken as a tracer of intermediate hospitals.

Methods: This descriptive study covered all of the patients hospitalized, during the year 2015, in the Internal Medicine department of the Msaken regional hospital. The data were disseminated through a "Minimum Clinical Summary". Morbidity was classified according to ICD-10. Hospital readmission was tested with reference to <28 days.

Results: A total of 594 patients were hospitalized in Internal Medicine, with a sex ratio of 0.95 and a median age of 67 years [54-78]. "Diseases of the respiratory system" were the first category of diagnosed morbidity (58%), dominated by acute bronchitis, followed by "endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases" in women (including insulin-dependent diabetes) and category of infectious diseases in men (including erysipelas). The former patients of the service (49%) were twice as numerous among people ≥60 years old (57% vs 30% in those under 60 years). The readmission rate was 19% (29% for men versus 8% for women). The mean length of stay was 7 ± 5.7 days. The transfer rates and hospital mortality were 11.3% and 1.2%, respectively.

Conclusion: The morbidity diagnosed at the Internal Medicine department of the Msaken regional hospital was dominated by the triad: acute bronchitis, diabetes mellitus and erysipelas, particularly in the elderly. Hence the need to strengthen the training of future family doctors in pulmonology, diabetology and infectious diseases.