Abstract
Introduction: More than 5 million pilgrims come from all over the world to perform Umrah and Hajj in Makkah. The continuously increasing number of pilgrims every year can increase the risk of health hazards especially the communicable diseases which necessitates the appropriate risk management and availability of advanced medical care.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective study to assess the most common causes of medical and surgical hospital admissions and their outcomes among adult patients in the major hospitals in Makkah (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) during Ramadan and Thul-Hijja of the Islamic Year 1438 (2017). Data such as socio-demographic characteristics, personal habits and co-morbidities was retrieved from patients' files found in archives and admission office.
Results: A total of 4432 subjects were included in the study of which 55.2% were males. Most of the patients (69.4%) were medically managed after hospitalization while 30.6% required surgical intervention. The most common symptoms of hospital admission included abdominal pain (9.0%), fever (8.0%) and shortness of breath (7.8%). King Faisal hospital showed the highest cumulative survival rate (53.7%). It was revealed that having a comorbid condition such as DM or HTN can negatively affect the rate of survival (p-value < 0.001).
Conclusion: It can be concluded that a considerable percentage of pilgrims require medical or surgical care and it is very important to conduct additional studies that can inform evidence-based management of those patients especially the higher risk groups.