Objective:

To analyze a temporal evolution of hospitalizations of children under five years of age, affected by conditions associated with primary care in Teresina-PI, from 2003 to 2012.

Method:

This is a retrospective, descriptive and quantitative study, based on extracted secondary data of the Interagency Network of Health Information, available on the website of the Department of Informatics of the Unified Health System. The hospitalizations were analyzed in two age groups: children under one year of age and children between one and four years of age.

Results:

Despite fluctuations in the analyzed period, hospitalization rates decreased by 71.88 %. In children under one year the decrease was 71.49 % and the age between one and four years the reduction was 72.30 %. Most hospi-talizations occurred in males, and the causes that prevailed were infectious gastroenteritis and bacterial pneumonia.

Conclusions:

Hospitalizations for conditions associated with primary care presented a decline over the analyzed decade. However, there was a predominance of conditions that could have been avoided or even resolved by applying available and low-cost measures in primary health services.

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