Trends in hospital admissions for pediatric asthma in childrenduring a period of eighteen years

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To study trends in hospital admissions for acute pediatric asthma in the Hospital da Santa Casa do Rio Grande during the period of 1979 to 1996. METHODS: This is a study of a series of cases. We reviewed all the discharge records of pediatric patients with diagnosis of acute asthma, pneumonia, and bronchiolitis within the period mentioned above. The main variable in this study was the percentage of admissions for acute asthma in relation to the total amount of hospital admissions. The percentages of admissions for bronchiolitis and pneumonia in relation to the total amount of hospital admissions were also calculated as reference values. RESULTS: There were 3,493 admissions for acute asthma in 3,122 patients during the studied period, with an average of 194 admissions per year. The percentage of admissions for acute asthma to total hospital admissions increased from 5,5% to 14,7% between 1983/84 and 1991/92. Half of this increase occurred during the period 1987-1992 in which hospitalizations for bronchiolitis and pneumonia were stable. This percentage decreased from 14,7% to 10,6% in the period of 1991/92 - 1995/96. CONCLUSIONS: There was a significant increase in hospital admissions for acute pediatric asthma in the Hospital da Santa Casa do Rio Grande during the period of 1983 - 1992. From then on, hospital admissions for asthma showed downward trends.