Prevalence of Inguinal Hernia and its Risk factors in adult males admitted to surgical wards of Teaching Hospitals, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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Date
2019-11
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Addis Abeba University
Abstract
Introduction: An inguinal hernia is defined as the protrusion or passage of a peritoneal sac, with
or without abdominal contents, through a weakened part of the abdominal wall in the groin. There
are two types of inguinal hernias. In today’s world, the inguinal hernia has a prevalence that is agerelated
and raise from 12% at group age 25-34 to 30%-40% above 60 years old. Age, sex, and
factors increasing intra-abdominal pressure are among major determinants of inguinal hernia.
Objective: To assess the prevalence and identify risk factors of inguinal hernia among adult males
admitted to the surgical ward at teaching hospitals, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Methods: Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted through a retrospective record
review of patients admitted in government teaching hospitals in Addis Ababa. Randomly selected
records of 589 adult male patients admitted to surgical wards in the period of March 2017-February
2019 were included in the study. Medical charts of all adult male patients admitted to surgical
wards at the three hospitals were included in the study. Medical chart of patients, which had more
than 10% missed variables, lost from record office during data collection, and lacks evidence on
essential variables such as date of admission were excluded from the study. Data were analyzed
using SPSS version 25. Bivariate analysis and multiple logistic regression were carried out to
determine the effect of independent factors on the development of inguinal hernia.
Result: A total of 589 adult male patients’ medical records were reviewed. The patient s’ age range
was from 18 to 91 years with the mean and standard deviation of 49.05 and 17.8, respectively. The
prevalence of inguinal hernia was 6.5%. Of this, 94.7% of the hernias were primary inguinal
hernia. Indirect inguinal hernia was seen in 23 (60.5%) of patients. In this study, it was found that
the significantly associated risk factor for the development of inguinal hernia was strenuous work
activity. The odds of having inguinal hernia among those with strenuous exercise was 4.083
(95%CI =1.984, 8.403, P<0.001) times higher compared with those who didn’t experience
strenuous exercise.
Conclusion: The prevalence of inguinal hernia was high compared to reported data in literatures.
Strenuous work activity was found to be a significant risk factor for the development of inguinal
hernia. Long-time morbidity from this disease condition was found to be common in study
population.
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Keywords
Hernia, prevalence, risk factors, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2019