Identifying high occurrence areas of hospitalization and mortality from respiratory diseases in the Brazilian Legal Amazon: a space-time analysis.

Respiratory diseases pose a significant threat to the health of the Brazilian population, ranking among the leading causes of hospitalizations and deaths in the country. The most impacted demographics are children, adolescents, and older adults, who respectively have the highest rates of hospitalizations and deaths. An exploratory ecological study was conducted to assess the spatio-temporal distribution of hospitalizations and deaths due to respiratory diseases among children, adolescents, and older adults residing in municipalities in the Brazilian Legal Amazon. Moreover, the study aimed to identify priority municipalities within the detected clusters by employing composite synthetic municipal indices. These indices were estimated based on various socio-environmental and health indicators. The scan analysis identified clusters across various time periods but they mostly aligned with the disease trends in the region. We were able to identify clusters both near metropolitan areas and in remote locations, capturing two distinct patterns of cluster distribution. Moreover, the application of composite synthetic indices enabled a comprehensive identification of priority municipalities, considering various factors relevant to the health conditions of the population in the studied areas.