title: [Vulnerabilities of children admitted to a pediatric inpatient care unit].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the vulnerabilities of children admitted to a pediatric inpatient unit of a university hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional, descriptive study from April to September 2013 with 36 children aged 30 days to 12 years old, admitted to medical-surgical pediatric inpatient units of a university hospital and their caregivers. Data concerning sociocultural, socioeconomic and clinical context of children and their families were collected by interview with the child caregiver and from patients' records, and analyzed by descriptive statistics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the total sample, 97.1% (n=132) of children had at least one type of vulnerability, the majority related to the caregiver's level of education, followed by caregiver's financial situation, health history of the child, caregiver's family situation, use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs by the caregiver, family's living conditions, caregiver's schooling, and bonding between the caregiver and the child. Only 2.9% (n=4) of the children did not show any criteria to be classified in a category of vulnerability.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most children were classified has having a social vulnerability. It is imperative to create networks of support between the hospital and the primary healthcare service to promote healthcare practices directed to the needs of the child and family.
authors.affiliation: Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
authors.forename: Larissa Natacha de
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
authors.forename: Márcia Koja
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Breigeiron
authors.affiliation: Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
authors.forename: Sofia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hallmann
authors.affiliation: Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil. Electronic address: mariacarolinawit@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Maria Carolina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Witkowski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004198:Disease Susceptibility / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006757:Hospital Units; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010372:Pediatrics; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Children; Crianças; Family; Família; Health vulnerability; Inpatient Care Units; Unidades de internação; Vulnerabilidade em; saúde