OBJECTIVE: to evaluate the extent to which the demand for services from children and adolescents are met by the Doutor Armando Lages Emergency Unit in Maceió, in the Brazilian State of Alagoas. METHODS: an observational cross-section study was carried out of 2,153 medical records of children and adolescents attending the Emergency unit in 1998, 2001 and 2004. The variables were sex, age, sector and time attended, place of residence, hospitalization, type of injury and extent to which the demand was met, according to the criterion established by Furtado et al. The chi-squared test was used to investigate associations between the variables under study, with a confidence level of 95%. RESULTS: of the 2,153 medical records analyzed, 1792 (83.2%) were classified as inadequate. Most patients were male (1252 - 58.2%), aged between 10 and 18 years (931 - 43.2%), resident in Maceió (1742 - 81.1%), attended in the afternoon (800 - 37.2%), at the Pediatrics Centre with injuries covered by Chapter XIX of the International Classification of Diseases (1039 - 48.3%). There were more inadequate medical records for females aged between 10 and 18 years, attended in the morning, residing in close proximity to the Emergency Unit. CONCLUSIONS: there was a high percentage of inadequate service provision for children and adolescents at the Emergency Unit. This result suggests the health needs of this group are not being met by the basic National Health System in the State of Alagoas.
Child; Adolescent; Morbidity; Emergency medicine
