PCH Cheung, PLS Ip

Abstract

Five years' data on hospital discharges were used to study patterns of adolescent physical morbidity. Discharge diagnostic categories and their specialties were analysed at each year of age from 10 to 19 years. Adolescents accounted for 4.7% of the total discharges with an annual discharge rate of 32.8 per 1,000 (USA 56.5) compared to 90.1 for all ages. Problematic areas included injury, poisoning, pregnancy, psychosomatic complaints, suicide and self-inflicted injuries. Discharge rates of pregnancy related disorders and, injuries and poisoning were 74 and 114 per 10,000 respectively for teenagers aged 15 to 18 (U.S. 276 and 136 respectively). For ages 10 to 19, these two categories accounted for 40% of the total discharges. Data on three categories (Symptoms, Signs and Ill-defined Conditions, Injury and Poisoning, and Suicide and Self-inflicted Injury) were further analysed. Adolescents aged 10 to 19 had a significantly higher proportion of discharges in each of these three categories (p<0.001) when compared to other ten year age groups. Medical and paediatric specialties were most frequently utilized (36%), followed by surgery (26%), orthopaedics (21%) and obstetrics and gynecology (9%). Among the common diagnosis were those socially and behaviourally associated. These call for collaborative tackling strategies from various levels of adolescent workers.