Currently, accidents and violence are classified in Brazil by the Ministry of Health, according to the International Classification of Diseases as External Causes. The objective of this study is to analyze hospital costs resulting from external causes at the Emergency Ward in Teresina-PI, Brazil. The data was collected through the Hospital Information System at Getúlio Vargas Hospital from 2005 to 2007. The results presented in show that the situation in Teresina, Piauí has been similar to the rest of the Brazil, given that in Teresina, external causes have been increasing in number of occurrences and has elevated the cost of hospital admissions. An increase in admissions (19.5%) and hospital costs (114.9%) because of these causes was observed. One concludes that this data may aid in the implementation of public policies which prevent and combat this problem, as well as sensitize health care professionals, since a great number of the external cause victims require qualified professional assistance.
External causes; Violence; Accidents; Hospital costs
