The mortality in Gaza in July-September 2014: a retrospective chart-review study.

BACKGROUND: The majority of Gazans who were killed or injured in the 2014 Israel-Gaza war were civilians, and one-fourth of the population were internally displaced. As the Gaza Strip is a small territory, the whole population was exposed to the war and its effects on the health care system, supplies and infrastructure. Our aim was to assess the overall, sex and age-group mortality in Gaza for the period July-September 2014 that was not caused by war injuries, and the proportion of non-trauma deaths among adults that occurred outside hospital wards. A comparison was made with the mortality for the same period in 2013. METHOD: Date, sex, age, cause and place of each death that was not attributed to war-related physical trauma were collected from death notification forms or death records in Gaza hospitals for the period 01 July to 30 September 2014. The same information was extracted from the local death register for all deaths in the same period in 2013. RESULTS: The mean age at death was 52.4 years in 2014 and 49.7 in 2013, and about 50 % were older than 60 years in both years. The crude non-trauma death rates among adults were 11.6 per 10,000 population in 2014 and 11.3 in 2013, and the age standardised 13.2 and 12.4, respectively. Higher death rates in 2014 were observed among elderly and women. Cardiovascular disease was the most common cause of death among adults of both sexes, and infectious diseases caused less than 10 % in both periods. Three maternal deaths were observed in 2013 and six in 2014 (p = 0.17). The proportion of deaths that occurred in a hospital ward was 71.5 % in 2013 and 51.2 % in 2014. CONCLUSIONS: The mortality from communicable diseases was low in Gaza. We did not detect a higher overall background mortality in the 2014 period compared to 2013, but the observed age and sex distribution differed. The proportion of non-trauma deaths among adults that occurred in a hospital ward was markedly lower during the war. The living conditions and health care situation in Gaza point to the need for close monitoring of mortality.

Cohort monitoring of persons with diabetes mellitus in a primary healthcare clinic for Palestine refugees in Jordan.

OBJECTIVE: To illustrate the method of cohort reporting of persons with diabetes mellitus (DM) in a primary healthcare clinic in Amman, Jordan, serving Palestine refugees with the aim of improving quality of DM care services. METHOD: A descriptive study using quarterly and cumulative case findings, as well as cumulative and 12-month analyses of cohort outcomes collected through E-Health in UNRWA Nuzha Primary Health Care Clinic. RESULTS: There were 55 newly registered patients with DM in quarter 1, 2012, and a total of 2851 patients with DM ever registered on E-Health because this was established in 2009. By 31 March 2012, 70% of 2851 patients were alive in care, 18% had failed to present to a healthcare worker in the last 3 months and the remainder had died, transferred out or were lost to follow-up. Cumulative and 12-month cohort outcome analysis indicated deficiencies in several components of clinical care: measurement of blood pressure, annual assessments for foot care and blood tests for glucose, cholesterol and renal function. 10-20% of patients with DM in the different cohorts had serious late complications such as blindness, stroke, cardiovascular disease and amputations. CONCLUSION: Cohort analysis provides data about incidence and prevalence of DM at the clinic level, clinical management performance and prevalence of serious morbidity. It needs to be more widely applied for the monitoring and management of non-communicable chronic diseases.

Cohort monitoring of persons with hypertension: an illustrated example from a primary healthcare clinic for Palestine refugees in Jordan.

OBJECTIVE: Recording and reporting systems borrowed from the DOTS framework for tuberculosis control can be used to record, monitor and report on chronic disease. In a primary healthcare clinic run by UNRWA in Amman, Jordan, serving Palestine refugees with hypertension, we set out to illustrate the method of cohort reporting for persons with hypertension by presenting on quarterly and cumulative case finding, cumulative and 12-month analysis of cohort outcomes and to assess how these data may inform and improve the quality of hypertension care services. METHOD: This was a descriptive study using routine programme data collected through E-Health. RESULTS: There were 97 newly registered patients with hypertension in quarter 1, 2012, and a total of 4130 patients with hypertension ever registered since E-Health started in October 2009. By 31 March 2012, 3119 (76%) of 4130 patients were retained in care, 878 (21%) had failed to present to a healthcare worker in the last 3 months and the remainder had died, transferred out or were lost to follow-up. Cumulative and 12-month cohort outcome analysis indicated deficiencies in several components of clinical performance related to blood pressure measurements and fasting blood glucose tests to screen simultaneously for diabetes. Between 8% and 15% of patients with HT had serious complications such as cardiovascular disease and stroke. CONCLUSION: Cohort analysis is a valuable tool for the monitoring and management of non-communicable chronic diseases such as HT.