Evolução do número de internações de idosos no Rio Grande do Sul entre 2008 e 2016

Abstract

Aging is an inherent process of living things. It is the result of a combination of numerous factors being studied for public health. The objective of this study was to analyze the main characteristics of hospital admissions in the elderly, in Rio Grande do Sul, from 2008 to 2016. The methodology consisted of a quantitative, observational, descriptive and analytical study of the cross-sectional type on the monthly hospitalizations of the elderly. The main variables considered were: the number, the deaths and the days referring to hospitalizations. Descriptive statistics were performed and adjustments were also made for simple linear regression models. As a result, it was observed that among the elderly hospitalized the majority were women (50.52%), patients that were 70 years and older (57.24%), and those that were white (73.27%). Cardiovascular and respiratory diseases were the first and second causes, of hospitalization, respectively. Regarding the analysis of the evolution of the number of hospitalizations, it can be observed that all variables analyzed presented a growing and significant trend (p <0.001), except for the number of hospitalizations due to circulatory (p = 0.14) and respiratory diseases (P = 0.58); in the analysis of the evolution of the days of hospitalization, it can be observed that all variables analyzed presented a growing and significant trend (p <0.001), except for the character of elective hospitalizations (p = 0.2958) and the days of hospitalization for diseases of the respiratory system (p = 0.07). As conclusion, more studies are recommended with the help of SIH-SUS system to follow the trend of hospitalizations in order to direct public policies in improving the health of the elderly population.