The clinical and epidemiological characteristics of hospitalizations due to cardiac and cerebral-vascular diseases (CCVD - ICD 390 - 438), which occurred in 1986, were studied on the basis of data from an information system relating to medical care in the City of Ribeirão Preto, State of S. Paulo, Brazil. These causes accounted for 4,673 of the annual total of 43,449 hospital admissions. Using the sources of payment of the hospitalization as an indicator of the patients' social strata, the following four study groups were defined: private, social insurance, non-paying and "others". These groups showed significant differences in relation to the following variables: hospitalization rates due to CCVD, mean and median age at admission and time of death, occupation, average length of stay in the hospital, mortality rates and relative frequencies of specific sub-group diagnosis. These differences are attributed to inequalities in the standard of living and in the working conditions of the groups, which determine diverse patterns of disease, medical care and mortality.
Hospitalization; Cardiovascular diseases; Social class