Skip to content
ALL Metrics
-
Views
-
Downloads
Get PDF
Get XML
Cite
Export
Track
Research Article
Revised

Adult malaria mortality during 2019 at Bo Government Hospital, Sierra Leone

[version 2; peer review: 2 approved]
PUBLISHED 14 Aug 2023
Author details Author details

Abstract

It is uncertain whether malaria is an important cause of death among adults in endemic areas. We performed a chart review of adults admitted to Bo Government Hospital during 2019. Of 893 admissions, 149 (59% female, mean age 58.5 years) had a laboratory diagnosis of malaria and 22 (14.8%) died. Mortality was significantly higher among patients with severe malaria compared with those who had non-severe malaria (6/20 [30%] versus 16/129 [12.4%], p=0.031).  Our results suggest that malaria is a common cause of death in hospitalized Sierra Leonian adults.

Keywords

Malaria, adults, mortality, Sierra Leone

Revised Amendments from Version 1

The revised article incorporates the suggestions of the reviewers including new wording and additional data except where the suggested data were not collected or were unavailable (e.g., sickle cell disease data were unavailable for most patients).

See the authors' detailed response to the review by Sheikh Omar Bittaye
See the authors' detailed response to the review by Peter Okpeh Amede

Introduction

It remains uncertain whether malaria is an important cause of death among adults living in endemic areas1. One of the reasons for this uncertainty is that many countries with a high burden of malaria do not have a vital registration system. Malaria statistics for African countries published by the World Health Organization are based on the results of verbal autopsy in children under the age of five and provide little information on malaria mortality in adults2.

We further explored the importance of malaria as a cause of death in adults in Sierra Leone by performing a chart review of all patients admitted to one of three adult medical wards at Bo Government Hospital during the 2019 calendar year.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective hospital-based chart review of adults (age ≥18) admitted to Bo Government Hospital from 1st January to 31st December 2019. Bo Government Hospital is major regional hospital in Southern Province, Sierra Leone and provides adult, maternal and pediatric care services to the city of Bo and surrounding districts. Three investigators (SK, AA, IB) extracted data from the medical charts of unselected consecutive adults admitted with a laboratory diagnosis of malaria during 2019 as part of the Countrywide Mortality Surveillance for Action (COMSA) Sierra Leone Project3. The study included patients admitted over a 12-month period to provide a representative sample in view of the seasonal pattern of malaria. Eligible patients were identified based on review of laboratory results as documented in their medical charts and there were no exclusion criteria. Data extracted included age, sex (female/male), results of diagnostic testing for malaria (rapid diagnostic test, thick and thin film), information on the severity of malaria as defined by the World Health Organization criteria4, and patient outcome (discharged alive or died in hospital).

Data were summarised as counts and mean and standard deviation for continuous variables, and number and percentage for categorical variables. The significance of any differences in proportions was evaluated with a chi square test and a 2-sided p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Analyses were performed using SAS version 9.4.

All investigators are listed as authors and had complete access to study data.

Ethical permission was granted by the Office of the Sierra Leone Ethics and Scientific Review Committee (dated March 15, 2022). Individual patient consent was not required because the study involved a retrospective chart review.

Results

Results are summarised in Table 15. Of 893 adult admissions, 149 (59% female, mean age 58.5 years [SD 13.0]) had a laboratory diagnosis of malaria based on positive rapid diagnostic test or parasitemia on blood film. Of these, 20 (13.4%) were categorized as having severe malaria.

Table 1. Baseline characteristics and outcomes of patients admitted to Bo Government Hospital during 2019 with a diagnosis of malaria*.

Characteristic and outcomeAdmissions with malaria
(n=149)
Age, mean (SD)58.5 (SD 13.0)
  Age < 6061 (52.6%)
  Age ≥ 6055 (47.4%)
Female, n (%)86 (59.3%)
Hypertension 84 (66.1%)
Malaria severity, n (%)
   Non-severe129 (86.6%)
   Severe20 (13.4%)
Deaths, n (%)22 (14.8%)
   Severe6 (30.0%)
   Non-severe 16 (12.4%)

*Number of patients with missing data: age, n=33; sex, n=4 hypertension, n=22.

†Comparison between severe and non-severe malaria: p=0.031

SD=standard deviation.

Of 149 patients with a malaria diagnosis, 22 (14.8%) died. There were no significant differences in age, sex or proportion of patients with hypertension among those whose chart review included criteria for severe malaria (including prostration, severe anaemia, jaundice, reduced level of consciousness, seizures, shock) compared with those who did not. Mortality was significantly higher among patients with severe malaria compared with those who had non-severe malaria (6/20 [30%] versus 16/129 [12.4%], p=0.031).

Discussion

The results of our chart review indicate that 1 in 7 adult patients admitted to Bo Government Hospital with laboratory confirmed malaria died. As expected, the mortality rate was highest in patients admitted with severe malaria, but most deaths still occurred in patients who did not have severe disease.

The large number of malaria admissions and high malaria mortality among adults observed during 2019 at Bo Government Hospital is consistent with emerging data that malaria is a significant contributor to adult mortality. The Sierra Leone Sample Registration System (SL-SRS) of births and deaths performed between September 1, 2019 and December 15, 2020 found that malaria accounted for 22% of deaths under the age of 70 years and was a leading cause of death in adults4. Bittaye and colleagues reported 9.9% mortality in 131 adults (age 15–90) hospitalized with malaria during 2020–2022 in the Gambia, with all deaths occurring in patients with severe malaria6. Boushab and colleagues reported 14.1% mortality in 99 adults (age >15 years) hospitalized with severe malaria during 2016–2019 in Mauritania7. The Indian Million Death Study (MDS) suggested a higher adult mortality rate than expected, especially in persons aged over 45 years8. Similar results were reported by the International Network for Demographic Evaluation of Populations and their Health (INDEPTH) Network9.

Our data have some limitations. First, rapid diagnostic tests for malaria may be associated with both false positive and false negative results. It is likely that some adults had other underlying acute medical conditions leading to hospitalization but were categorized as having malaria due to an incidental finding of parasitemia on rapid testing or blood film examination. Second, classification of the severity of malaria was limited by lack of complete medical information, and it is possible that misclassification of the severity of disease explains the higher-than-expected mortality rate in those with non-severe malaria. Third, we did not have access to treatment information or the possible presence of drug resistance and are therefore unable to determine the reasons for the high adult malaria mortality in this study. It is also unclear whether concomitant infections, such as bacteremia, or other conditions may have contributed to malaria mortality seen in our study. Finally, our study was performed in a single regional hospital and the high mortality in hospitalized patients may not be generalizable to other hospitals in Sierra Leone.

In conclusion, our data demonstrate that the burden of adult malaria mortality in Bo Government Hospital, Sierra Leone is high. Further studies are needed to explore the reasons for the high mortality and more effective prevention and treatment strategies should be urgently implemented.

Comments on this article Comments (0)

Version 2
VERSION 2 PUBLISHED 15 Mar 2023
Comment
Author details Author details
Competing interests
Grant information
Copyright
Download
 
Export To
metrics
Views Downloads
Gates Open Research - -
PubMed Central
Data from PMC are received and updated monthly.
- -
Citations
CITE
how to cite this article
Kpagoi SSTK, Aimone A, Ansumana R et al. Adult malaria mortality during 2019 at Bo Government Hospital, Sierra Leone [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]. Gates Open Res 2023, 7:48 (https://doi.org/10.12688/gatesopenres.14396.2)
NOTE: If applicable, it is important to ensure the information in square brackets after the title is included in all citations of this article.
track
receive updates on this article
Track an article to receive email alerts on any updates to this article.

Comments on this article Comments (0)

Version 2
VERSION 2 PUBLISHED 15 Mar 2023
Comment
Alongside their report, reviewers assign a status to the article:
Approved - the paper is scientifically sound in its current form and only minor, if any, improvements are suggested
Approved with reservations - A number of small changes, sometimes more significant revisions are required to address specific details and improve the papers academic merit.
Not approved - fundamental flaws in the paper seriously undermine the findings and conclusions

Are you a Gates-funded researcher?

If you are a previous or current Gates grant holder, sign up for information about developments, publishing and publications from Gates Open Research.

You must provide your first name
You must provide your last name
You must provide a valid email address
You must provide an institution.

Thank you!

We'll keep you updated on any major new updates to Gates Open Research

Sign In
If you've forgotten your password, please enter your email address below and we'll send you instructions on how to reset your password.

The email address should be the one you originally registered with F1000.

Email address not valid, please try again

You registered with F1000 via Google, so we cannot reset your password.

To sign in, please click here.

If you still need help with your Google account password, please click here.

You registered with F1000 via Facebook, so we cannot reset your password.

To sign in, please click here.

If you still need help with your Facebook account password, please click here.

Code not correct, please try again
Email us for further assistance.
Server error, please try again.