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Hospital admissions in the first year of life: inequalities over three decades in a southern Brazilian city
- Source :
- International Journal of Epidemiology
- Publication Year :
- 2019
- Publisher :
- Oxford University Press, 2019.
-
Abstract
- Background Hospital admissions in infancy are declining in several countries. We describe admissions to neonatal intensive care units (NICU) and other hospitalizations over a 33-year period in the Brazilian city of Pelotas. Methods We analysed data from four population-based birth cohorts launched in 1982, 1993, 2004 and 2015, each including all hospital births in the calendar year. NICU and other hospital admissions during infancy were reported by the mothers in the perinatal interview and at the 12-month visit, respectively. We describe these outcomes by sex of the child, family income and maternal skin colour. Results In 1982, NICUs did not exist in the city; admissions into NICUs increased from 2.7% of all newborns in 1993 to 6.7% in 2015, and admission rates were similar in all income groups. Hospitalizations during the first year of life fell by 29%, from 23.7% in 1982 to 16.8% in 2015, and diarrhoea admissions fell by 95.2%. Pneumonia admissions fell by 46.3% from 1993 to 2015 (no data available for 1982). Admissions due to perinatal causes increased during the period. In the poorest income quintile, total admissions fell by 33% (from 35.7% to 23.9%), but in the richest quintile these remained stable at around 10%, leading to a reduction in inequalities. Over the whole period, children born to women with black or brown skin were 30% more likely to be admitted than those of white-skinned mothers. Conclusions Whereas NICU admissions increased, total admissions in the first year of life declined by nearly one-third. Socioeconomic disparities were reduced, but important gaps remain.
- Subjects :
- Inequality
Epidemiology
media_common.quotation_subject
Population
health care disparities
First year of life
Supplement Articles
socioeconomic factors
Family income
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
cohort studies
030225 pediatrics
Intensive care
Medicine
030212 general & internal medicine
education
Socioeconomic status
media_common
Child health
education.field_of_study
business.industry
General Medicine
Skin colour
3. Good health
business
Cohort study
Demography
hospitalization
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14643685 and 03005771
- Volume :
- 48
- Issue :
- Suppl 1
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- International Journal of Epidemiology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....3bac002f13fad3051d505ac9cad6ef6d