Ontology highlight
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.
SUBMITTER: Wehrmeister FC
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6422058 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Wehrmeister Fernando C FC Victora Cesar G CG Horta Bernardo L BL Menezes Ana M B AMB Santos Iná S IS Bertoldi Andréa Dâmaso AD da Silva Bruna G C BGC Barros Fernando C FC
International journal of epidemiology 20190401 Suppl 1
<h4>Background</h4>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.<h4>Methods</h4>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 int ...[more]