Clinical profile and outcomes of hospitalized patients in internal medicine
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62059/4angr351Keywords:
internal medicine, hospitalization, inpatient care, epidemiology, retrospective studyAbstract
Introduction: Hospital-based epidemiological studies provide information on the frequency and distribution of diseases and support clinical decision-making. Objectives: Describe the clinical characteristics of hospitalized patients. Organize and classify causes of admission. Analyze factors related to patient outcomes. Materials and Methods: A descriptive-analitic, observational, retrospective study was conducted. All patients admitted over a one-year period to the Internal Medicine Service were included. Epidemiological data, clinical characteristics, comorbidities, and outcome-related variables were analyzed. Results: A total of 2,304 patients were included; 60.9% were men. Median age was 48 years. The most common causes of admission were infectious diseases, cancer, and mental health disorders. The most frequent comorbidities were overweight or obesity, smoking, arterial hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. Complications occurred in 24.2% of cases. Median length of hospital stay was 7 days, and in-hospital mortality was 4.5%. Age, Charlson Comorbidity Index score, multiple comorbidities and risk habits were significantly associated with 30-day readmission, complications and need for procedures, prolonged hospitalization, ICU admission, and mortality. Conclusions: Analysis of local hospital data identifies factors associated with adverse outcomes and supports evidence-based decision-making. These findings provide a basis for planning targeted interventions and future analytical studies.References
Grimes DA, Schulz KF. Descriptive studies: what they can and cannot do. The Lancet 2002; 359: 145-149.
Álvarez Hernández G, Delgado De la Mora J. Diseño de estudios epidemiológicos. I. El estudio transversal: Tomando una fotografía de la salud y la enfermedad. Bol Clin Hosp Infant Edo Son 2015; 32: 26-34.
Organización Panamericana de la Salud. Indicadores de salud. Aspectos conceptuales y operativos. Washington, D.C. OPS 2018.
Cardona Arias JA. Determinantes y determinación social de la salud como confluencia de la salud pública, la epidemiología y la clínica. Arch Med (Manizales) 2016; 16: 183-191.
Trevisan V, Kilstein J, Ghelfi A. Estudio observacional de las características clínicas de pacientes internados en clínica médica, en un hospital de tercer nivel de atención. 2021.
Farro Panta PA, Rodriguez Alayo N. Perfil epidemiológico del Servicio de Medicina Interna del Hospital Provincial Docente Belén Lambayeque. 2015.
Ontaneda Cueva KC, Bustamante Granda BF. Perfil epidemiológico del servicio de hospitalización de Medicina Interna del Hospital General Isidro Ayora de Loja. 2016.
Delgado Morales JL, Alonso del Busto R, Pascual Calleja I, et al. Estudio observacional de los pacientes ingresados en un Servicio de Medicina Interna. An Med Interna (Madrid) 2004; 21: 3-6.
Barba Martín R, Marco Martínez J, Emilio Losa J, et al. Análisis de 2 años de actividad de Medicina Interna en los hospitales del Sistema Nacional de Salud. Rev Clin Esp 2009; 209: 459-466.
Encuesta nacional sobre consumos y prácticas de cuidado 2022 ENCoPraC. - 1a ed. - Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires : Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos - INDEC; Argentina: SEDRONAR, 2023.
4° Encuesta Nacional de Factores de Riesgo. Resultados definitivos. - 1a ed. - Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires : Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos - INDEC; Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires: Secretaría de Gobierno de Salud de la Nación, 2019.
Balla U, Malnick S, Schattner A. Early readmissions to the department of medicine as a screening tool for monitoring quality of care problems. Medicine 2008; 87: 294-300.
Shalchi S, Saso HK, Li E. Factors influencing hospital readmission rates after acute medical treatment. Clinical Medicine 2009; 9: 426-430.
Matesanz-Fernández M, Monte-Secades R, Íñiguez-Vázquez I, et al. Characteristics and temporal pattern of the readmissions of patients with multiple hospital admissions in the medical departments of a general hospital. Eur J Intern Med 2015; 26: 776-781.
Downloads
Status: Under review
in Revista Argentina de MedicinaRAM is a quarterly publication edited and financed by the Argentine Society of Medicine aimed at disseminating biomedical, epidemiological and social scientific topics related to the following branches of clinical medicine: bioethics, cardiology, critical care, palliative care, dermatology, pain, education, emergentology, endocrinology, epidemiology, pharmacology and…
Downloads
Posted
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Eugenio Cautures, Roberto Parodi (Autor/a)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This preprint contains the reported license and associated copyright. Once published in an associated journal or other publisher, the published version assumes the publisher's terms and conditions.