OBJECTIVES: to analyze the pattern of hospital morbidity of Xavante Indians, State of Mato Grosso, Brazil, from 2000 to 2002. METHODS: inpatient data were obtained from eight hospitals in the vicinity of four Xavante reservations (Areões, Pimentel Barbosa, Sangradouro and São Marcos). Data included name, age, sex, reservation of residence, date of admission; date of discharge, and diagnosis at admission. Causes of hospitalization were classified in accordance with the International Classification of Disease - ICD, 10th revision. RESULTS: data were obtained from 1,698 patient records. Ages of patients ranged from 0 to 93 years. More than half of the patients were children under 5 years of age. The five major causes of hospitalization were classified in the following ICD chapters: diseases of the respiratory system (41.5%); infectious and parasitic diseases (17.4%); pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (12.7%); endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (9.7%); and injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (3.7%). When causes related to pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium are not considered, the distribution is the following: diseases of the respiratory system (47.7%); infectious and parasitic diseases (19.9%); endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (11.2%); and injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (4.3%). It was also observed that, in comparison to non-Indian children from Mato Grosso, Xavante children show higher rates of hospitalization due to infectious and parasitic diseases, respiratory infections and malnutrition. CONCLUSIONS: the hospital morbidity pattern observed in Xavante Indians highlights their overall poor health and nutrition. Children under five years of age account for more than half of the admissions. The study highlights serious deficiencies in the access and quality of health care services made available to Xavante Indians, as underscored by the high frequency of hospitalizations due to preventable causes at the level of primary health care.
Hospitalization; Morbidity; Health services; Child health; Indians; Brazil; South America
