<b>Characterization of hospitalizations at a pediatric intensive care unit of a teaching hospital in southern Brazil</b> - DOI: 10.4025/cienccuidsaude.v7i0.6581

Abstract

The objective of this study was to find the epidemiological profile of hospitalizations at the pediatric ICU of the Maringá Regional University Hospital (HURM), in the period between January 2004 and January 2006. Data was collected by consulting hospital records and death certificates. Of the 418 hospitalizations registered, the majority were for male patients (55.74%), nursing mothers (50.71%) and residents of localities other than Maringá itself (64.90%). Hospitalization duration varied from 1 to 196 days, with 82.21% of cases remaining in hospital for less than 10 days. The most frequent causes for hospitalization were respiratory system complications (41.38%), followed by lesions, poisonings and external causes (9.60%). In regards to the outcome of care, more than half of the children were transferred to the pediatric ward of the HURM (61.96%) and 20.81% were sent to their original hospitals. The mortality rate was 6.94%, and the main causes of death were pulmonary afflictions (31.03%) and CNS conditions (20.69%). It is suggested that ample instructions be given to the population regarding the timely detection of complication signs, coupled with human resources that are better able to deal with this group of illnesses, thus considerably reducing hospitalizations that could have been resolved during basic care.