in-cyprus 13 May 2020 -Josephine Koumettou
The majority of deaths in public hospitals in 2018 were caused by diseases of the circulatory system at a rate of 29.9% according to the Statistical Service report “Health and Hospital Statistics 2018” published on Wednesday.
In 2018, 5,963 deaths were recorded of residents as well as non-residents who died in Cyprus, of whom 52.9% (3,157 deaths) were men and 47.1% (2,806 deaths) were women.
The main causes of death were diseases of the circulatory system (29.9%), neoplasms (24.9%), diseases of the respiratory system (9.0%), endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (7.0%), as well as external causes of injury and poisoning (6.0%). Other causes of death follow with lower frequencies.
Inpatient discharges
During 2018, 83,937 patients were treated and discharged from the general hospitals of the public sector compared to 81,988 in 2017, recording an increase of 2.4%. In addition, 1,386 patients were treated and discharged from Kyperounta and Polis Rural Hospitals in 2018 compared to 1,556 in 2017, recording a decrease of 10.9%.
In 2018, the bed occupancy rate of the general hospitals of the public sector was 79.5%, recording an increase compared to 2017, when it was 75.6%. The respective percentage for the rural hospitals in 2018 was 49.9%, recording a decrease from 2017, when it was 51.8%.
Neoplasms have the highest share, 13.4% of the total patients discharged from general hospitals, followed by injuries, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes with 10.3%, diseases of the circulatory system with 9.6%, diseases of the digestive system with 9.2% and diseases of the respiratory system with 8.1%. All other disease categories account for 44.2%, whereas “Not stated” accounts for 5.2%.
Outpatient Attendances
During 2018 a total of 1,797,545 out-patient attendances were recorded at the public medical institutions, recording a slight decrease of 0.1% compared to 1,800,016 in 2017. Additionally, in 2018 a total of 294,966 patients visited the casualty departments, compared to 301,624 patients in 2017, recording a decrease of 2.2%.
