Objective: to characterize the profile of hospital admissions of the elderly in the public system of Piauí in the year 2017. Methodology: cross-sectional and retrospective study, based on the data available in the Information System on Morbidity of the Ministry of Health in the page of the Department of Information Technology of SUS (DATASUS). Results: The elderly were in the age group of 80 years or older, were male and 24.7% had diseases of the circulatory system. The main cause of mortality was diseases of the respiratory system, with 12 (25%) deaths. Floriano's macroregion was where 45% of cases of hospitalization occurred. Conclusion: Educational and preventive actions should be implemented through health care policies, with the aim of limiting the social inequalities of care coverage to the populations of macro regions, in order to interrupt the cycle of gravity of the causes of the circulatory and respiratory system in the elderly