Characteristics and current direct costs of hospital admissions due to occupational accidents in the southwest of Bahia from 2005 to 2007.

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to identify the profile and cost of admissions for occupational accidents, under the Unified Health System (UHS) in municipalities of the southwest of Bahia, in the period of 2005 to 2007. METHODS It was conducted a descriptive study using the records of the Hospital Information System (HIS), from which were extracted data about the sociodemographic, occupational and hospitalization profiles. To express the results, indicators were used as absolute frequencies and proportions, the average stay, Total Cost of Hospitalization (TCH), Hospital Mortality (HM), Average Spenditure (AS) and Cost per Day (CD). RESULTS 962 admissions were recorded, of which 94.1% were related to path accidents. Among the admitted subjects 65.7% were male, and the most affected age groups were 5 to 14 and 15 to 24 years. There were forearm fractures on 26 cases of typical accidents. 248 cases of intracranial injuries happened during commuting to work, which accounted for 78.2% of traffic accidents and 28.8% of falls. The average stay was of 2.6 days and the deaths occurred in 0.5% of patients discharges. The total cost of the admissions was of R$ 243,125.06, being the AS of R$ 252.73 and CD of R$ 97.44, lower than the external causes. The frequencies of the variables related to the occupation were not verified due to missing values. CONCLUSION The data from the HIS Systems were limited for identify the profile of the admitted workers. However, they are important and can be used on occupational health surveillance.