Paediatric admissions to hospital on Niue Island, 1977-1982.

For the period 1977-1982, hospital records on Niue Island, western Polynesia, reveal that a total of 929 children aged 0 to 15 years were admitted. Just over half (57%) of these children were male. The majority (62%) were under six years of age; one-quarter (25%) were infants. Leading reasons for admission were respiratory problems (45%) and gastrointestinal disorders (16%). Under five year old males were particularly affected by wheezing bronchitis which accounted for nearly half of all respiratory hospitalisations. The majority of admissions for digestive disorders were of preschoolage children. As age increased, so reason for admission changed from being primarily for respiratory and digestive disorders to being more for accidents, musculoskeletal problems, and conditions of the skin and subcutaneous tissues. Accidents were the third leading cause of admission for males but not for females. Little variation in length of hospital stay was found by age, sex or village of origin. The median stay for paediatric patients was five days. Longest stays come from accidents, parasitic infections, and, for boys, skin and subcutaneous tissue problems.