Abstract
Knowing the profile of individuals who demand health services or professionals could help in the improvement and reorganization of services. However, this subject is still underexplored among adolescents. This study aimed to describe and identify characteristics related to the demand for health services or professionals by Brazilian students. Using data from the 2015 National School Health Survey, the prevalence and respective 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) of the demand for health services or professionals among students were estimated, and Poisson regression adjusted by age and region of residence was used to identify the associated factors. More than half of the students demanded for health services or professionals in the last year, with a higher demand among females. The characteristics associated with the outcome were sociodemographic (female, white, private school), family (maternal schooling of 12 years or more, having meals with parents/guardians and parents' knowledge of the adolescent's activities in their free time), risk behaviors (alcohol consumption and sexual intercourse without a condom) and health-related issues (physical violence, wheezing, toothache, hygiene habits, and attitude to one's own weight). Organizing health services in a way that takes the particularities of this population into account may provide a space to deal with subjects related to the risks to which it is exposed.
Highlights
Knowing the profile of individuals who demand health services or professionals could help in the improvement and reorganization of services
This study aimed to describe and identify characteristics related to the demand for health services or professionals by Brazilian students
The demand was higher for females (61,1%; 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) 59.2 – 63.0), for adolescents aged 16 years (63.6%; 95%CI 60.9 – 66.2), white skin color/race (60.4%; 95%CI 58.4 – 62.3), private school students (69.9%; 95%CI 67.5 – 72.2) and residents of the Southeast Region (59.6%; 95%CI 57.1 – 62.2)
Summary
Knowing the profile of individuals who demand health services or professionals could help in the improvement and reorganization of services This subject is still underexplored among adolescents. Since 2012, the National School Health Survey (PeNSE) has included the theme of the demand for health services and/or professionals[7]. Analyzing these data, Oliveira et al emphasized, for the first time, with a national coverage among students in the 9th year of Primary Education, that the search for a health service or professional in the last 12 months prior to the survey was 48.0%. In the analysis of the data referring to the demand for health services in the 2015 edition of PeNSE, it is expected that this percentage has increased, adopting as reference an increase in the supply of services through the expansion of the coverage of the Family Health Strategy, which has grew from 53.75% in January 2012 to 63.72% in December 20159
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