Prevalence of Hospitalizations for Malignant Brain Neoplasms in Adults in the Last 5 Years in the Brazilian Territory

PURPOSE The presence of abnormal cells that originate within the brain tissue characterizes malignant neoplasia of the brain, a form of brain tumor. The study aims to analyze hospitalizations for malignant brain neoplasia in adults in the five regions of Brazil from 2019 to 2023, investigating the demographic distribution in terms of regions of the country, year, age group, sex and ethnicity. In addition, seek to evaluate the characteristics of care, including the nature of hospitalizations, length of stay and mortality rates. METHODS A cross-sectional, descriptive, retrospective and quantitative study was carried out on hospitalizations for malignant neoplasia of the brain in adults in the 5 regions of Brazil (North, Northeast, Center-West, South, Southeast) between January 2019 and December 2023. The data used were collected through the Department of Informatics of the “Unified Health System of Brazil” (DATASUS) in the “SUS Hospital Information System” section, gathering those that discussed the age group, sex, ethnicity of the patient, character of care, the rate of hospital stay and the mortality rate. RESULTS The analysis covers the years 2019 to 2023, totaling 75,719 hospitalizations. The region that received the highest number of hospitalizations was the southeast (43.24%), while the north had the lowest number (4.28%). The highest number of cases occurred in 2022 (20.56%), followed by 2019 (19.76%). Urgent hospitalizations represented 76.71% of the total. The most affected age group was 60 to 69 years old (19.88%). Men were more affected than women (52.07%) and white people represented 43.4% of hospitalizations. The average stay was 9.2 days and the mortality rate was 13.60%. CONCLUSION Given the data analyzed, it is possible to draw an epidemiological profile in which non-white men are the population most affected by brain cancer. Furthermore, there is an alarming number of urgent hospitalizations, highlighting the severity of the disease. Therefore, based on the observed profile and other data collected, it is important that measures are developed to mitigate this serious public health problem in Brazil.