Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Hospital Discharges due to Congenital Malformations in Argentina

Background Hospital discharges (HD) provide population data that can be used to define specific epidemiological profiles. Objectives To quantify the prevalence of CM among all hospital discharges and its spatiotemporal patterns across Argentina. Furthermore, the study will benchmark these estimates against RENAC to contextualize agreement and discrepancies. Methods HD data (2005–2020) from the National Ministry of Health were analyzed at national, regional, and provincial levels. We estimated the proportion of HD due to CM (HDCM; ICD‐10 Q00–Q99) overall and by age (< 1 year, 1–5 years, > 5 years). For infants < 1 year, CM prevalence per 100 live births (LB) was computed and compared with RENAC. Temporal trends were assessed with Joinpoint regression. Results HDCM represented 0.71% of all HD; 63.4% occurred in children ≥ 1 year, indicating substantial CM‐related care beyond infancy. Spatial differences were directionally consistent across sources: nationally and in the Center, RENAC estimates were higher than HDCM; Cuyo showed higher HDCM throughout; NWA shifted to higher HDCM from mid‐decade; NEA/Patagonia displayed small gaps with occasional crossovers. Temporally, Joinpoint analyses revealed heterogeneous regional trends without a common timing of inflections: HDCM increased in NWA, the gap widened in Cuyo toward the late decade, while national and Center trajectories were relatively stable; RENAC series remained more tightly clustered around the national pattern. In infants < 1 year, structural cardiac malformations were the leading HD diagnoses. Conclusion HD‐based metrics and RENAC provide complementary views of the CM burden; their systematic divergence with regional heterogeneity indicates that HD can robustly contextualize spatiotemporal differences where birth‐surveillance alone is insufficient.