Mortality review: medical unit II Outram Road General Hospital, Singapore 1972-73

Abstract

A mortality review of 1135 deaths over the 2 yr period of 1972-73 was conducted in a medical unit of Outram Road General Hospital, Singapore. The information was derived from data recorded during death rounds. Of the 1135 deaths, 973 (86%) had documented causes. 50% of the documented deaths occurred in the 7th and 8th decades of life, while 13% were below the age of 40. There was a male preponderance of deaths. The authors also noted a higher proportion of Indian deaths and a lower proportion of Malay deaths than would be expected from the ethnic composition of Singapore. The autopsy rate was 13.5%. Cerebrovascular disorder was the most frequent event encountered in the causation of death, involving 222 (23%) of these 973 deaths. Most of the cerebrovascular deaths had underlying hypertensive disease. Approximately 10% of deaths resulted from acute myocardial infarct. 9% had diabetes mellitus, mainly as a contributory cause. Renal failure was the terminal presentation in 124 deaths (12.5%). The major causes of young adult deaths include specific infections and poisoning.