Abstract
Background: The aim of this investigation was to describe trends in the use of hospital services by children on account of pneumonia during a period of 22 years from 1972 to 1993. Methods: All hospital treatment periods concerning children younger than 15 years of age with a primary or additional diagnosis of pneumonia in the Finnish population, comprising approximately 1 million children, were collected from the register maintained by the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health. Results: A total of 79,828 such treatment periods were identified. The figure for 1972 was 4,989 (4.6 periods per 1,000 persons) and that for 1993 was 3,170 (3.3 periods per 1,000 persons), a decrease of 28.3% In the age-specific rate. The highest average percentage decrease per year was found in children younger than 1 year: 5.7% for boys and 5.6% for girls. The number of hospitalization days was 47,997 in 1972 (44.6 per 1,000) and 13,332 in 1993 (13.8 per 1,000), a decrease of 68.9%. The length of stay in hospital decreased from 9.6 to 4.1 days for boys and from 9.7 to 4.3 days for girls over the same time interval. Conclusion: Cases of pneumonia that require hospital treatment have declined substantially, supporting the notion that a comprehensive sociomedical approach can reduce the need for hospital services.
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