Pneumonia mortality in Brazilian children aged 4 years and younger.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the trend of pneumonia mortality in Brazilian children aged 4 years and younger from 1991 to 2007.


METHODS
We conducted a retrospective study based on the database of the IT Department of the Brazilian Unified Health System (DATASUS), from which we obtained the number of deaths from pneumonia and the population aged 4 years and younger living in the five Brazilian regions and in the whole country. Mortality rate was calculated according to the number of deaths from pneumonia divided by the population, multiplied by 1,000 for the age group under 1 year old and by 10,000 in the age group from 1 to 4 years. The linear regression test was used to evaluate the time trend of mortality.


RESULTS
There was a significant decrease in pneumonia mortality rates during the study period in both age groups and all regions of the country. In Brazil, the mean annual reduction in mortality rates in the population under 1 year old and between 1 and 4 years was 0.12 and 0.07, respectively. The South and Southeast regions showed the greatest reductions (-0.14 and -0.18 for < 1 year and -0.07 and -0.09 for 1 to 4 years). The smallest decreases were in the North and Northeast regions (-0.04 and -0.07) in children younger than 1 year, and in the North and Central West (-0.03 and -0.04) in the age group between 1 and 4 years.


CONCLUSIONS
There was a significant reduction in pneumonia mortality in children aged 4 years and younger across the country from 1991 to 2007; however, a discrepancy between the different regions remains evident.
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil.
Felipe E
FE
Rodrigues
Rafael B
RB
Tatto
Larissa
L
Vauchinski
Letícia M
LM
Leães
Mariana M
MM
Rodrigues
Vinícius B
VB
Rodrigues
Alessandra
A
Catharino
Mariana
M
Cainelli
Gabriela P
GP
Prates
Thais M
TM
Cerqueira
Linjie
L
Zhang
D017677:Age Distribution; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016014:Linear Models; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000401:mortality*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors