ArticleNursing research and practice2023
Discharge against Medical Advice at a Teaching Hospital in Ghana.
Article in Nursing research and practice, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Research Utilization: A Cross-Sectional Survey of the Barriers and Facilitators Among Clinical Nurses in Ghana.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Magnitude and associated factors of discharge against medical advice among patients treated in the adult Emergency Department at an Ethiopian University Hospital.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2025Article
- Discharge Against Medical Advice From the Emergency Department: Results From a Private Hospital in Beirut.Cureus · 2025Article
- Transition from Hospital to Home-Based Care for Older Adults in Southwestern Uganda: Informal Caregiver's Experiences.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2025Article
- Understanding patients' decision to leave hospital care in Ghana: clinical cases and underlying determinants.BMC nursing · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Discharge against medical advice is a global phenomenon where patients voluntarily terminate their consent to medical care before the medical team declares them fit for discharge. The phenomenon adversely affects the delivery of quality health care. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted at a Ghanaian teaching hospital involving patients who were admitted to the emergency settings within a 2 years period. Data were retrieved from the hospital records and patients discharged against medical advice were identified and studied. Data were cleaned and coded with Excel application and analyzed with SPSS version 23. Results: A total of 8,565 admissions were made into the ward within the period under review with 210 patients been discharged against medical advice. The prevalence rate was 2.5% with high prevalence seen in male and younger populations. Fractures and head injuries were the commonest conditions for which patients requested to be discharged against medical advice, whilst financial constrains and preference for herbal treatment were the major factors for which patients requested to be discharged against medical advice. Conclusion: Discharge against medical advice exists and negatively affects the delivery of quality health care in the Ghanaian health sector. Education especially towards at-risk groups such as the younger populations and patients with fractures as well as effective communication between medical team and patients and their families are some proposed measures to reducing the prevalence and negative impacts associated with discharges against medical advice.
Identifiers
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.