Introduction: Pneumonia, despite advances in its resolution and effective treatment, today constitutes high mortality rates worldwide, in the country and in the Pinar del Rio province.Objective: to characterize the mortality rate due to bacterial pneumonia at the Abel Santamaría Cuadrado General Teaching Hospital in the Pinar del Rio province during 2018.Method: a descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted with retrospective data collection. The universe consisted of 848 deaths that occurred during the study period; and the intentional sample consisted of 183 deceased from the entire hospital, obtaining data from clinical histories and autopsy protocols. Sociodemographic variables were studied, taking into account diagnosis upon admission, previous illnesses, hospital stay; A database was created using Microsoft Excel 2010. Statistical analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, basically using the percentage ratio for an adjustment level of p < 0.05%.Results: There was a higher mortality rate among those aged 70 to 79 years, males, and white skin color. Diagnoses at the time of admission were represented to a greater extent by community-acquired pneumonia, cerebrovascular disease, and decompensated diabetes mellitus. The most frequent previous diseases were arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Most of the deceased remained in hospital for more than 72 hours.Conclusions: It is necessary to maintain surveillance of the etiology of bacterial pneumonia to adapt the diagnostic and treatment guidelines
