Internações de repetição entre menores de cinco anos em hospital público de nível terciário: perfil clínico, demográfico e socioeconômico

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate causes of repeat hospitalizations in children under five years in public tertiary care hospital. To estimate the frequency of the main causes of repeat hospitalizations in children under five years. To describe the clinical, demographic and socioeconomic profile of children under five years subject to recurrent hospitalizations. Methods: Cross-sectional, descriptive, observational study. The sample consisted of 40 children under five years, with repeated hospitalizations, admitted to the Pediatric Hospital José Machado de Souza during the period November 2013 to April 2014. The data obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using the SPSS 21 program. Results: We interviewed 40 patients of whom 65% were male and the majority (72.3%) coming from upstate. The main causes of repeat hospitalization were respiratory diseases (60%), acute diarrhea (15%) and urinary tract infections (7.5%). Were predominant of low family income, low parental education, early weaning and associated chronic diseases among the patients included in the study. Conclusion: Repeat hospitalizations were caused predominantly by respiratory and infectious and parasitic diseases. Several factors inherent to the patient, the environment and socioeconomic conditions were associated with such admissions.