Background: Sub-Saharan Africa shares a disproportionately large ratio of the global acute disease burden, however epidemiological data specific to the burden of emergency conditions are lacking. This study aimed to determine the morbidity burden of emergency conditions in Jimma city, Southwest Ethiopia. 

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using emergency case registries of three years from 2014 to 2017, at Jimma Medical Center and Shenen Gibe Hospital. 39,537 emergency visits were included in the study. The data were exported to SPSS V.23.0 for statistical analysis, descriptive analysis was used to summarize demographic characteristics, causes of visit, and morbidity rates. Findings were integrated with population-based health demographic reports quantifying the morbidity burden. Outcome measures were overall number of emergency visits and morbidity rates for the population groups. 

Results: From a total of 39,537 visits, those between 15 and 29 years of age accounted for 42.1% (n = 16615), and 50.6% (n = 20004) were females. Communicable, Maternal, Neonatal and Nutritional (CMNNs) conditions accounted for 57.2%(n = 22597), followed by injuries (22.9%, n = 9055). Top five conditions were non-specific trauma (2.3%, n = 4861), complicated labor (8.4%, n = 3320), lower respiratory infections (8.1%, n = 3213), acute febrile illness (6.6%, n = 2600), and neonatal infections (3.7%, n = 1444). 

Conclusion: The burden of acute conditions presented to public hospitals in Jimma city is high. Traumatic injuries, obstetric emergencies, lower respiratory infections, and neonatal emergencies were the most frequent causes of acute visits. An appropriate emergency care system that addresses this high burden of acute emergencies should be established in the study area.