Leukemia in pediatric patients over the last 5 years: a Brazilian morbidity and mortality profile

Keywords

epidemiology - leukemia - pedriacts

Introduction: Leukemia is the most common type of cancer in children and adolescents. Understanding its epidemiological profile is crucial for the promotion of targeted early identification measures, which are essential for better therapeutic outcomes and prognosis of the cases.

Objective: To analyze the morbidity and mortality of leukemia in pediatric patients in Brazil over the last 5 years, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the scenario and support the planning of effective interventions.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional, quantitative, and descriptive study on hospital admissions, deaths, and hospital stays related to leukemia in the pediatric age group between January 2019 and December 2023. The research was conducted using data from the Informatics Department of the Brazilian Unified Health System (DATASUS), through the TABNET tool. Information was collected regarding hospital admissions, deaths, mortality rate, and average hospital stay according to the variables: sex, race/color, age group, year, type of care, and region.

Results: There were 87,227 hospital admissions during the analyzed period, with an average hospital stay of 6.9 days and 1,527 deaths. Of the total admissions, 50,628 occurred in males and 36,599 in females, with a predominance of mixed-race individuals (48%). The age group with the highest percentage of hospital admissions was 1 to 4 years (36.2%), followed by 5 to 9 years (35.9%), 10 to 14 years (26.1%), and under 1 year (1.8%). When relating deaths to age, the age group with the highest number was from 10 to 14 years (33,3%), and the one with less deaths was the “under 1 year” group (5.2%). Additionally, 2022 had the highest number of admissions, with 18,117 cases (20.8%), compared to 2019, which had 1,143 admissions (1.3%). Moreover, the Southeast region led in the number of admissions, totaling 31,975, followed by the Northeast (25,944) and the South (15,715). However, among the 1,527 deaths, the Northeast exceeded the Southeast, with approximately 40% compared to 30% of the total, respectively.

Conclusion: The research highlights the importance of focused strategies for this pathology and its most affected individuals, with a readiness of the health system for diagnosis and management of the cases, especially in the regions with a higher number of cases and deaths, in order to improve quality of life and survival rate among these children.

Corresponding author: Letícia Bezerra de Almeida (e-mail: [e-mail]).