Morris C D
Department of Medicine, Frere Hospital, East London, CP.
S Afr Med J. 1989 Feb 18;75(4):171-4.
A prospective analysis of 2,008 discharge diagnoses revealed important differences in disease incidence between black and white adult and geriatric patients treated in the Department of Medicine, Frere Hospital, East London. Among geriatric patients the major differences were the increased incidences among blacks of tuberculosis, pulmonary circulatory disorders and cardiomyopathy, as opposed to ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disorders and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease among whites. Among blacks hypertension was less common than had been expected and occurred predominantly in females. Tuberculosis affected 14% of blacks but only 1.6% of whites. It was also the commonest cause of medical deaths and responsible for 31% of deaths of black patients. Analysis of age patterns showed that 68% of whites and 31% of blacks were over 60 years old; 18% of whites and 3% of blacks were over 80 years old. These figures indicate the need to extend hospital facilities for geriatric patients, and for more comprehensive training in geriatric medicine for doctors and nurses.
对2008例出院诊断进行的前瞻性分析显示，在东伦敦弗勒医院内科接受治疗的成年和老年黑人和白人患者之间，疾病发病率存在重要差异。在老年患者中，主要差异在于黑人中结核病、肺循环障碍和心肌病的发病率增加，而白人中缺血性心脏病、脑血管疾病和慢性阻塞性肺疾病的发病率较高。在黑人中，高血压不如预期常见，且主要发生在女性中。结核病影响了14%的黑人，但仅影响了1.6%的白人。它也是内科死亡的最常见原因，占黑人患者死亡的31%。年龄模式分析表明，68%的白人及31%的黑人年龄超过60岁；18%的白人及3%的黑人年龄超过80岁。这些数据表明有必要扩大老年患者的医院设施，并为医生和护士提供更全面的老年医学培训。
