Epidemiological and Seasonal Patterns of Respiratory Diseases at a Community Health Facility in Southwest Nigeria: A Five-Year Retrospective Analysis

Respiratory diseases are a leading cause of hospitalization and death in Africa. Information on the presentation and outcomes of respiratory diseases can improve disease management, health planning, and policy.

This study aims to identify the epidemiological and seasonal patterns of respiratory diseases at a health facility in southwest Nigeria.

We conducted a retrospective analysis of medical records for respiratory cases presented at the health facility over five years and descriptively analyzed the data. We then examined the association between the cases and age, sex, and/or seasonality using logistic regression analysis.

Respiratory diseases accounted for 5,701 cases (7.4%) of 77,553 cases. The most common respiratory diseases were Upper Respiratory Tract Infections (URTI), with 4,719 cases (82.8%), asthma (657 cases, 11.5%), and allergic rhinitis (258 cases, 4.5%). Sex was significantly associated with URTI and asthma. The risk of URTI (OR = 0.744, 95% CI: 0.648, 0.855; p = 0.001) was significantly lower in females than males, while the risk of asthma was higher in females (OR = 1.074, 95% CI: 1.447, 2.007; p < 0.001). Except for pneumonia, all other respiratory diseases occurred mainly among adolescents and young adults (16-30 years). A seasonal pattern (with increased cases in the rainy season) was observed for pneumonia (OR=1.769, 95% CI: 1.196, 2.618; p = 0.004).

Understanding the trends and high-incidence periods of respiratory diseases is essential in proactively planning and managing respiratory conditions, particularly with the current realities of climate change.