Introduction: Since 1981 the State Health Office has taken over the treatment and hospitalization of all tuberculosis cases in the State of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. A decrease in both the incidence and the percentage of admissions due to tuberculosis has been observed during this period. Objective: To analyze the evolution of the reasons that led tuberculosis patients to hospitalization and correlate these reasons with hospitalization length and the type of discharge. Material and methods: A sample of 1,805 patients' records compiled between 1981 and 1995 at five tuberculosis hospitals in the State of São Paulo was reviewed. Results: The main reason for admission was general poor health, followed by cachexy. Increasing alcoholism was also observed. Among those who stayed in hospital for less than one week, the most frequent reasons for hospitalization were "other pathologies" and "respiratory insufficiency". These cases also showed the shortest average hospitalization length whereas the longest was presented by the patients admitted for social reasons and treatment failure. The patients with respiratory insufficiency presented the highest rate of dropouts and death. The highest rate of requested discharge was observed among the patients admitted due to drug intolerance whereas those admitted due to social reasons and alcoholism showed the highest rate of disciplinary release. The hospital that admitted females was the one with the highest rate of requested release, whereas in the hospitals that admitted males disciplinary release and dropouts were the most frequent types of discharge.

Keywords: Pulmonary tuberculosis. Length of stay. Health services research. Specialized hospitals. Patient discharge.