Table 3.

The clinical characteristics of patients admitted to the emergency ward at UoGCSH

Variables	Category	Frequencies (%)
Direct admission to the emergency ward	Yes	288 (68.2%)
	No	134 (31.8%)
Transferred from other health facilities	Transferred from primary hospital	93 (69.4%)
	Transferred from private hospital	20 (14.9%)
	Transferred from health centers	21 (15.67%)
Patients who were on medication for chronic disease before admission	Yes	123 (29.15%)
	No	299 (70.85%)
Duration of therapy before admission	≤ 36 month	63 (51.22%)
	> 36 month	60 (48.78%)
Presence of co-morbidities	Yes	288 (68.2)
	No	134 (31.8)
Number of comorbidities	1	167 (57.98)
	> 1	121 (42.01)
Charlson co-morbidity index	1–2	157 (37.2)
	≥ 3	130 (30.8)
	None	135 (32)
Estimated ten years of survival	<96%	181 (42.9)
	≥ 96%	241 (57.1)
History of traditional medication use	Yes	139 (32.9)
	No	283 (67.1)
Types of traditional medications used by patients	“Ye wefe”	116 (83.45)
	“Haregressa”	20 (14.38)
	Other	3 (2.16)
History of hospitalization	Yes	194 (46)
	No	228 (54)
Patients who had used medication for chronic disease before admission	Yes	123 (29.15)
	No	299 (70.85)
The number of chronic disease medications the patient was taking prior to admission	1	43 (10.2)
	≥ 2	80 (19)
	None	299 (70.9)
Duration of therapy while taking medication used for chronic diseases before admission	≤ 36 month	63 (14.9)
	> 36 month	60 (14.2)
Number of days in hospital after admission	≤ 5 days	269 (63.7)
	≥ 6 days	153 (36.3)
Number of medication the patients is using now	≤ 4	264 (62.6)
	≥ 5	158 (37.4)

UoGCSH University of Gondar comprehensive specialized hospital