Spatial Analysis of Hospitalization for Heart Diseases in Vale do Paraiba

Abstract

Background: schemic heart diseases (IHD) are important causes of death in the Vale do Paraiba paulista. Objective: To identify patterns of spatial distribution of hospitalizations for acute myocardial infarction (AM!) and IHD in the Vale do Paraiba paulista. Methods: This was an ecological study using exploratory spatial analysis of hospitalization data for acute myocardial infarction and ischemic heart disease in the Vale do Paraiba between 2004 and 2005. The statistical analysis used spatial georeferenced databases of 35 municipalities and spatial statistics routines. The admission data were obtained from the Portal Datasus of the Ministry of Health. The variables were the number of admissions for males and females aged over 30 years. To evaluate the spatial dependence we used the autocorrelation coefficients of Global Moran and Local Moran's index. We also analyzed the correlations between variables, using the TerraView program. The level 4 significance was as Results: Among 6,287 admissions, the rates were 161.66/300 thousand. Of the total of 35 municipalities, 31.4% had rates above average, the coefficient of Moran (global) showed a statistical significance. Local indexes showed clusters, indicating duster of municipalities in which there was spatial dependence with their own dynamics there was spatial dependence with their own dynamics. Conclusion: In the mid Vale do Paraiba paulista, the spatial analysis identified spatial clusters of hospitalizations due to acute myocardial infarction and ischemic heart disease, allowing intervention to reduce rates. (Arq Bras Cordial 2010;94(6): 702-7010