Hospitalization of children under five years of age due to avoidable causes.

This study characterizes the profile of hospital morbidity according to the main diagnosis upon admission, in individuals younger than five years old, residents of three cities (Maringá, Sarandi and Paiçandu) in the Paraná state, Brazil. Information contained in hospital admission forms from 1998 to 2009 was used. The hospitalizations of 41,220 individuals younger than five years old were analyzed. The results indicate a decline of 16.1% in hospital admissions of patients younger than five years old in relation to the total number of admissions in all age groups. As for the main diagnoses, there were diseases of the respiratory system (55.6%), infectious and parasitic diseases (14.8%) and diseases originating in the perinatal period (12.9%). Such conditions can be avoided by implementing primary health care measures, which shows the need to intensify the actions recommended by the programs directed to child health.