A Retrospective Study of the Average Length of Hospital Stay of Patients on the Medical Wards in the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital

Abstract

Average length of stay is typically used as an indicator of healthcare quality. Research on length of stay in Ghana is scarce while previous ones are superannuated. The study examines the factors that contribute to the increase or dec rease in the average length of stay of patients and to propose measures to ensure appropriate length of stay for the different disease conditions in order to improve health outcomes.The survey design was used to study patients admitted at the medical department of the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital during the first half of 2015.The average length of stay observed was 7.4±4.5 days. The longest average length of stay (11.4 days) and the shortest was (6.5 days). Significant relationship was found between length of stay and sex, alcohol consumption, sepsis, anaemia, and urea levels (Pearson chi-square p values of 0.017, 0.030, 0.000, 0.032, 0.014, and 0.006 respectively with significance threshold set at 0.05). Length of hospital stay is influenced by socio-demographic characteristics, health problems and institutional factors. The findings of the study corroborate previous researches, however, variations exist and further studies need to be conducted to fully explore the gaps within this research in order to be conclusive.