The distribution of the 2,518 admissions obtained in a sample taken from all the admissions which occurred in the eight general hospitals of the city of Maringá, State of Paraná, Brazil, in 1992 was analysed. The study variables were: main diagnosis, sex, age, city of residence, souces of financing, length of stay and discharge type. The leading causes of hospitalization were (ICD-9): complications of pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium and diseases of the respiratory and circulatory systems. Of the admissions, 42.8% were of men and when age adjusted, the highest proportion was found to be of children below 4 years of age. In the study, 64.4% were residents in Maringá, 24.9% lived in the 15th Region of Paraná and 8.7% lived out side the 15th Region of Paraná. The official Health System (SUS) was responsible for financing 73.8% of all admissions, private health insurances accounted for 14.9% and 11.3% of the patients were paying for their own hospital treatment. A difference was detected among the frequencies of the diagnoses according to financial support and city of residence. The average length of stay was 3,6 days and the hospital mortality rate was 2,7 deaths per hundred admissions.
Morbidity survey; Health status indicators; Hospitals, general