[A hospital in a developing country. Experiences from the Sidamo Regional Hospital in southern Ethiopia].
Hospitals can serve as an important complement to Primary Health Care. Therefore it is necessary to undertake periodic reviews of hospital function. We reviewed hospital use and pattern of referral by analyzing 4,797 admissions, at a regional hospital in southern Ethiopia. The main causes of sickness were related to childbirth, gastrointestinal disorders, infectious diseases and injuries. Acute diseases were more common in the younger age-groups. Infections were the main cause of death. Hospital use was inversely proportional to distance from the patient's home, but varied for different groups of patients. Thus, the effect of proximity was more obvious for poor patients, for women, and for children. The study demonstrates limitations in hospital function in third world countries, and recommends closer cooperation between primary and secondary levels of health care.