Abstract
ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE To characterize patients of primary health care services according to demographic and socioeconomic aspects, habits and lifestyle, health condition, and demand for health services and medicines.METHODS This study is part of the Pesquisa Nacional sobre Acesso, Utilização e Promoção do Uso Racional de Medicamentos – Serviços (PNAUM – National Survey on Access, Use and Promotion of Rational Use of Medicines – Services), a cross-sectional study carried out between 2014 and 2015. Interviews were conducted with patients over the age of 17 years, with a standardized questionnaire, in primary health care services of a representative sample of cities, stratified by regions of Brazil. The analysis was performed for complex samples and weighted according to the population size of each region.RESULTS A total of 8,676 patients were interviewed, being 75.8% women, most of them aged from 18 to 39 years; 24.2% men, most of them aged from 40 to 59 years; 53.7% with elementary school; 50.5% reported to be of mixed race ethnicity, 39.7%, white, and 7.8%, black. Half of patients were classified as class C and 24.8% received the Bolsa Familia benefit. Only 9.8% had health insurance, with higher proportion in the South and lower in the North and Midwest. The proportion of men who consumed alcohol was higher than among women, as well as smokers. The self-assessment of health showed that 57% believed it to be very good or good, with lower proportion in the Northeast. The prevalence of chronic diseases/conditions, such as hypertension (38.6%), dyslipidemia (22.7%), arthritis/rheumatism (19.4%), depression (18.5%), diabetes (13.6%), and others are higher in these patients them among the general population. Medicines were predominantly sought in the health care service or in pharmacies of the Brazilian Unified Health System.CONCLUSIONS It was possible to characterize the profile of patients of Primary Health Care, but the originality of the research and its national scope hinders the comparison of results with official data or other articles.
Highlights
Medicines were predominantly sought in the health care service or in pharmacies of the Brazilian Unified Health System
It was possible to characterize the profile of patients of Primary Health Care, but the originality of the research and its national scope hinders the comparison of results with official data or other articles
Primary Health Care (PHC) has been developing for decades, getting different denominations and approaches and, with the implementation of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS), it is considered the entrance to the use of health care services for the population, at all levels of complexity[10]
Summary
Primary Health Care (PHC) has been developing for decades, getting different denominations and approaches and, with the implementation of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS), it is considered the entrance to the use of health care services for the population, at all levels of complexity[10]. 3,916/GM of October 30, 1998, established the National Drug Policy to ensure the required safety, efficacy, and quality of these products, the promotion of rational use, and the access of the population to those considered essential (Relação Nacional de Medicamentos Essenciais (Rename – National List of Essential Medicines))[11]. It established other guidelines, such as the reorientation of Pharmaceutical Services, sanitary regulations for medicines, promotion and production of medicines[11]. This supply is funded by the three levels of government ( federal, state, and municipal) and should be applied in the costing of medicines for prevalent and priority diseases of the Primary Health Care, present in the Rename in forcea
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