Primary Care Sensitive Conditions Research Articles

Role of Interprofessional primary care teams in preventing avoidable hospitalizations and hospital readmissions in Ontario, Canada: a retrospective cohort study

BackgroundImproving health system value and efficiency are considered major policy priorities internationally. Ontario has undergone a primary care reform that included introduction of interprofessional teams. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between receiving care from interprofessional versus non-interprofessional primary care teams and ambulatory care sensitive condition (ACSC) hospitalizations and hospital readmissions.MethodsPopulation-based administrative databases were linked to form data extractions of interest between the years of 2003–2005 and 2015–2017 in Ontario, Canada. The data sources were available through ICES. The study design was a retrospective longitudinal cohort. We used a “difference-in-differences” approach for evaluating changes in ACSC hospitalizations and hospital readmissions before and after the introduction of interprofessional team-based primary care while adjusting for physician group, physician and patient characteristics.ResultsAs of March 31st, 2017, there were a total of 778 physician groups, of which 465 were blended capitation Family Health Organization (FHOs); 177 FHOs (22.8%) were also interprofessional teams and 288 (37%) were more conventional group practices (“non-interprofessional teams”). In this period, there were a total of 13,480 primary care physicians in Ontario of whom 4848 (36%) were affiliated with FHOs—2311 (17.1%) practicing in interprofessional teams and 2537 (18.8%) practicing in non-interprofessional teams. During that same period, there were 475,611 and 618,363 multi-morbid patients in interprofessional teams and non-interprofessional teams respectively out of a total of 2,920,990 multi-morbid adult patients in Ontario. There was no difference in change over time in ACSC admissions between interprofessional and non-interprofessional teams between the pre- and post intervention periods. There were no statistically significant changes in all cause hospital readmission s between the post- and pre-intervention periods for interprofessional and non-interprofessional teams.ConclusionsOur study findings indicate that the introduction of interprofessional team-based primary care was not associated with changes in ACSC hospitalization or hospital readmissions. The findings point for the need to couple interprofessional team-based care with other enablers of a strong primary care system to improve health services utilization efficiency.

Profile of general hospitals in the Unified Health System.

ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE To characterize the organization of Brazilian general hospitals that provide services to the Unified Health System using indicators that describe the main dimensions of hospital care.METHODS A 2015 cross-sectional observational study, comprising the range of general hospitals that serve the Unified Health System. We constructed the hospital indicators from two national administrative databases: the National Registry of Health Facilities and the Hospital Information System of the Unified Health System. The indicators include the main dimensions associated with hospital care: public-private mix, production, production factors, performance, quality, case-mix and geographic coverage. Latent class analysis of indicators with bootstrapping was used to identify hospital profiles.RESULTS We identified three profiles, with hospital size being the variable with the highest degree of belonging. Small hospitals show low occupancy rates (21.36%) and high participation of hospitalizations that could have been solved with outpatient care, besides attending only medium complexity cases. They receive few non-residents, indicating that they are mainly dedicated to the local population. Medium-sized hospitals are more similar to small-sized ones: about 100% of the visits are of medium complexity, low occupancy rate (45.81%), high rate of hospitalizations for primary care sensitive conditions (17.10%) and relative importance in the healthcare provision of non-residents (26%). Large hospitals provide high complexity care, have an average occupancy rate of 64.73% and show greater geographical coverage.CONCLUSIONS The indicators point to three hospital profiles, characterized mainly by the production scale. Small hospitals show low performance, suggesting the need to reorganize hospital care provision, especially at the municipal level. The set of proposed indicators includes the main dimensions of hospital care, providing a tool that can help to plan and continuously monitor the hospital network of the Unified Health System.

Internações por condições sensíveis à Atenção Primária à Saúde em crianças menores de 1 ano no Brasil

Primary care-sensitive condition hospitalizations (PCSCH) are an essential health care indicator. This ecological, time-series study aimed to analyze the time trend of PCSCH in children under the age of 1 in Brazil, considering the age subcomponents of newborns and post-newborns. The PCSCH rates were calculated for infants under the age of 1 and in the neonatal and postneonatal subgroups. The Prais-Winsten generalized linear analysis model and the Annual Percent Change (APC) calculation were used to evaluate the time trend. The results showed that infectious gastroenteritis represented the most important cause of hospitalizations due PCSCH in children under the age of 1. Congenital syphilis and other congenital infections accounted for the highest proportion of hospitalizations in newborns, whereas gastroenteritis prevailed in post-newborns. An increase in newborn hospitalization rates and a decrease in hospitalization rates in both the postneonatal group and the group of children under the age of 1. Differences in trends in these hospitalization rates may reflect the influence of specific determinants on the risk of hospitalization in each age subcomponent.

Characteristics of primary care and rates of pediatric hospitalizations in Brazil.

ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE To evaluate the association among characteristics of primary health care center (PHCC) with hospitalizations for primary care sensitive conditions (PCSC) in Brazil.METHOD In this study, a cross-sectional ecological study was performed. This study analyzed the 27 capitals of Brazil’s federative units. Data were aggregated from the following open access databases: National Program for Access and Quality Improvement in Primary Care, the Hospital Information System of Brazilian Unified Health System and Annual Population Census conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Associations were estimated among characteristics of primary care with the number of three PCSC as the leading causes of hospitalization in children under-5 population in Brazil: asthma, diarrhea, and pneumonia.RESULTS In general, PHCC showed limited structural adequacy (37.3%) for pediatric care in Brazil. The capitals in South and Southeast regions had the best structure whereas the North and Northeast had the worst. Fewer PCSC hospitalizations were significantly associated with PHCC which presented appropriate equipment (RR: 0.98; 95%CI: 0.97–0.99), structural conditions (RR: 0.98; 95%CI: 0.97–0.99), and signage/identification of professionals and facilities (RR: 0.98; 95%CI: 0.97–0.99). Higher PCSC hospitalizations were significantly associated with PHCC with more physicians (RR: 1.23, 95%CI: 1.02–1.48), it forms (RR: 1.01, 95%CI: 1.01–1.02), and more medications (RR: 1.02, 95%CI: 1.01–1.03)CONCLUSION Infrastructural adequacy of PHCC was associated with less PCSC hospitalizations, while availability medical professional and medications were associated with higher PCSC hospitalizations.

Ambulance use for ‘primary care’ problems: an ethnographic study of seeking and providing help in a UK ambulance service

ObjectivesTo explore what factors shape a service user’s decision to call an emergency ambulance for a ‘primary care sensitive’ condition (PCSC), including contextual factors. Additionally, to understand the function and...

Comments: "Causes for hospitalization of elderly individuals due to primary care sensitive conditions and its associated contextual factors".

Comments: "Causes for hospitalization of elderly individuals due to primary care sensitive conditions and its associated contextual factors".

Causes for hospitalization of elderly individuals due to primary care sensitive conditions and its associated contextual factors.

The objective of this study was to analyze the hospitalizations of the elderly for conditions sensitive to primary care (ICSAP) and associated contextual factors, referring to elderly people aged 60 and over, living in municipalities in the Northeast region. Characterized as being an ecological study using data from the Hospital Information System (SIH) and the Basic Attention Information System (SIAB) referring to elderly people aged 60 and over. The total hospitalization rate was 527,524, with the highest number due to heart failure, followed by cerebrovascular diseases, and infectious gastroenteritis. Analyzing the ICSAP rates with the contextual factors, all were significant. Regarding the coverage of basic care, a similarity occurred between them, and for the rate of the number of consultations among the elderly, despite the greater number of these in the municipalities with higher hospitalization rates, there was no significant difference between them. We conclude that the contextual factors interfere in the conditions of this hospitalization, necessitating, besides the improvement of primary care, an improvement in the living conditions of the elderly population.

Emergency Department and Primary Care Use in Massachusetts 5 Years After Health Reform.

Conceptually, access to primary care (through insurance) should reduce emergency department (ED) visits for primary care sensitive (PCS) conditions. We sought to identify characteristics of insured Massachusetts residents associated with PCS ED use, and compare such use for public versus private insurees. People under age 65 in the Massachusetts All-Payer Claims Data, 2011-2012. Retrospective, observational analysis of PCS ED use with nonurgent, urgent/primary care treatable, and urgent/potentially avoidable visits being considered PCS. We predicted utilization in 2012 using multivariable regression models and data available in 2011 administrative records. Among 2,269,475 nonelderly Massachusetts residents, 40% had public insurance. Among public insurees, PCS ED use was higher than for private (mean, 36.5 vs. 9.0 per 100 persons; adjusted risk ratio, 2.53; 95% confidence limits, 2.49-2.56), while having any primary care visit was less common (70% vs. 83%), as was having any visit to one's own (attributed) primary care provider (38% vs. 44%). Public insurance was associated with less access to primary care and more PCS ED use; statewide labor shortages and low reimbursement rates from public insurance may have provided inadequate access to care that might otherwise have helped reduce PCS ED use.

Hospitalizations due to primary care sensitive conditions: an ecological study.

ABSTRACTOBJECTIVETo evaluate the trend of hospitalizations due to primary care sensitive conditions and its relationship with the Family Health Strategy coverage.METHODSEcological study of time series using the records from the Hospital Information System, from 2005 to 2015, with data for the state of Goiás, Brazil. Trend analyses were performed by the generalized linear regression method of Prais-Winsten with robust variance, which allowed to verify if the trend of hospitalizations due to primary care sensitive conditions was stationary (p > 0.05), declining (p < 0.05 and negative regression coefficient), or ascending (p < 0.05 and positive regression coefficient) in each region of Goiás and for each diagnosis group, stratified by sex. Pearson correlation was used to verify the degree of association between the Family Health Strategy coverage and the rate of hospitalizations due to primary care sensitive conditions.RESULTSHospitalizations due to primary care sensitive conditions accounted for 1,092,070 (30.0%) of hospitalizations in Goiás. The average hospitalizations rate due to primary care sensitive conditions was statically less than the rate for other conditions in the analyzed period (167.6% against 386.2%; t = −13.18; p < 0.001). There has been a downward trend in hospitalizations trend due to primary care sensitive conditions in Goiás and in most health regions. The trends varied between sexes in the groups of causes. We observed a negative correlation between the Family Health Strategy coverage and the hospitalizations trend due to primary care sensitive conditions in the state and also in most health regions.CONCLUSIONSHospitalizations due to primary care sensitive conditions had a significant reduction trend over the analyzed period. Despite this progressive decrease, this rate remains high and the reduction trend was not linear for all causes. These results allow for directing public policies, while drawing a general overview of hospitalizations due to primary care sensitive conditions by sex and region in the state.

Ethnic and racial inequalities in hospital admissions due to avoidable causes in under-five Brazilian children, 2009-2014

There has been a global increase in hospital admissions for primary care-sensitive conditions (PCSCs) as an indicator of effectiveness in primary health care. This article analyzes ethnic and racial inequalities in cause-related hospitalizations in under-five children in Brazil as a whole and the country's five major geographic regions, with an emphasis on PCSCs and acute respiratory infections (ARIs). Using data from the Hospital Information Systems of the Brazilian Unified National Health System (SIH/SUS), 2009-2014, the authors calculated proportions, rates, and rate ratios for PCSCs, adjusted by sex and age after multiple imputation of missing data on color/race. The principal causes of hospitalization were respiratory tract infections (37.4%) and infectious and parasitic diseases (19.3%), and indigenous children were proportionally the most affected. Crude PCSC rates (per 1,000) were highest in indigenous children (97.3; 95%CI: 95.3-99.2), followed by brown or mixed-raced children (40.0; 95%CI: 39.8-40.1), while the lowest rates were in Asiandescendant children (14.8; 95%CI: 14.1-15.5). The highest adjusted rate ratios for PCSCs were seen among indigenous children compared to white children - 5.7 (95%CI: 3.9-8.4) for Brazil as a whole, reaching 5.9 (95%CI: 5.0-7.1) and 18.5 (95%CI: 16.5-20.7) in the North and Central, respectively, compared to white children. ARIs remained as important causes of pediatric hospitalizations in Brazil. Alarming ethnic and racial inequalities were observed in PCSCs, with indigenous children at a disadvantage. Improvements are needed in living conditions, sanitation, and subsistence, as well as guaranteed timely access to high-quality primary health care in the more vulnerable population groups, especially the indigenous peoples of the North and Central, in order to mitigate the health inequalities and meet the guidelines of the SUS and the Brazilian Constitution.

Hospitalizations due to primary care sensitive conditions in a population of older adults in the state of Rio Grande do Norte from 2008 to 2016

Abstract Objective : To identify hospitalizations to primary care sensitive conditions among older adults in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Method : An ecological study using information from the Hospitalization Information System of the Unified Health System was carried out. Mortality rate, permanence and costs resulting from hospitalization in the period from 2008 to 2016 were analyzed according to residence, age and sex. Results : The greatest proportions of hospitalizations were due to bacterial pneumonias and gastroenteritis. Illnesses that could be prevented by immunization had the longest average stay (on average 17 days); the highest admission rates were among men and for the over 80 age group, both in the period 2008-2010. In the period 2014-2016, hospitalizations for primary care sensitive conditions (or HPCSC) corresponded to 30.90% of all hospitalizations and 16.36% of the hospitalization expenses of the state. The average cost per HPCSC was R$970.54 during the same three-year period. Conclusion : In Rio Grande do Norte, hospitalizations due to primary care sensitive conditions among older adults is decreasing, although it is still an important cause of hospitalization and public health spending.

Factors associated with hospital admissions due to hypertension.

ABSTRACTObjective:To study the temporality of hospital admissions due to arterial hypertension and its associated factors.Methods:An ecological study with secondary data on hospital admissions due to essential arterial hypertension – ICD 10, from the Hospital Information System, the Mortality Information System and and the Primary Care Information System, between 2010 and 2015. Descriptive analysis using means, proportions and linear regression.Results:We recorded 493,299 hospitalizations due to arterial hypertension from 2010 to 2015, with an average annual progressive cost decrease of −7.76% and −24.21%. Of the patients admitted, 59.2% were women, 60.2% were non-white and 54.7% were older than 60 years. The mean length of stay was 4.2 days, and the hospitalization cost was R$307.60. The multiple linear regression variables that remained significant were the percentage of admissions due to primary care-sensitive conditions, the per capita income and the City Human Development Index.Conclusion:Hospital admissions due to arterial hypertension have an impact on the percentage of admissions due to primary care- sensitive conditions. Intensifying primary care activities, raising-awareness among professionals to the importance of integrated care, and investing in social development are crucial to change the reality of hypertension in terms of its control and complications.

Tecobé in Marajó: trend of indicators for the monitoring of primary care before and during the More Physicians for Brazil Program.

This study aimed to evaluate the performance of the Family Health Strategy after implementation of the More Physicians Program (MPBP) in the territory of Marajó-Pa-Brazil through an historical series of four primary care indicators during 2011-2015: population coverage, proportion of live births to mothers with/without prenatal consultations, hospitalization rates due to primary care sensitive condition (taxas de internações por condições sensíveis à atenção primária - ICSAP) and infant mortality rate. A trend of improvement was evident after implementation of the MPBP in 2013, achieving 42.8% of coverage in December 2015. In April 2014, all 16 municipalities had established teams with physicians. The proportion of live births to mothers with/without prenatal consultations showed increasing trends in most municipalities, increasing by 97% on average, predominantly with seven consultations or more and reducing the proportion of live births to mothers without prenatal visits. The infant mortality rate achieved a downward trend starting in 2014. The results indicate improvements in primary care based on the selected indicators, boosting the Family Health Strategy (FHS) in the studied region.

Did the Family Health Strategy have an impact on indicators of hospitalizations for stroke and heart failure? Longitudinal study in Brazil: 1998-2013.

IntroductionThe objective was to analyze whether socioeconomic factors related to the context and those related to the model of care—specifically the coverage of primary care by the Family Health Strategy (ESF)—had an impact on hospitalizations due to heart failure (HF) and stroke, in the State of São Paulo/Brazil between 1998 and 2013.MethodsA longitudinal ecological study involving 645 municipalities was conducted in the state of São Paulo/Brazil from 1998 to 2013, using the Hospital Information System (SIH–DataSUS database). The hospitalizations for primary care sensitive conditions: Stroke and heart failure (HF) that correspond to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD 10): I50, I63 to I67; I69, G45 to G46 were analyzed longitudinally during the period indicated regarding the percentage of people covered by the Family Health Program (PSF) adjusted for confounders (population size, gross domestic product -GDP and human development index- HDI).ResultsThere was a significant decrease in the number of hospitalizations for heart failure and stroke per 10000 (inhabitants) in the period (p <0.0001), with a significant relationship with increased proportion of ESF (p <0.0001), and this remained significant even when possible confounders (population size, GDP and HDI) were included in the model (p <0.0001).ConclusionsGDP per capita was close to or higher than that if many European countries, which shows the relevance of the study. The health care model based on the Family Health Strategy positively impacted hospitalization indicators for heart failure and stroke, indicating that this model is effective in the prevention of primary care sensitive conditions.

Understanding Emergency Department Utilization Patterns in Illinois

ObjectiveTo analyze differences in utilization of Emergency Departments for primary care sensitive conditions by facility and by patient ZIP code.IntroductionSyndromic surveillance has been widely implemented for the collection of Emergency Department (ED) data. EDs may be the only option for seeking care in underserved areas, but they do not represent population-based measures. This analysis provides insight on health-seeking behaviors within the context of the type of care sought.MethodsThe NSSP BioSense database in Adminer was queried for Illinois ED visits that occurred in August 2016, November 2016, February 2017, or May 2017. These months were chosen to account for seasonality and holidays. For each visit, as defined by the BioSense ID, the first listed diagnosis code, defined to be the primary diagnosis, and the latest valid patient ZIP code were determined.Next, an algorithm1 developed by New York University (NYU) which uses diagnosis codes to classify ED visits was applied to each visit's primary diagnosis. With this algorithm, a percentage (possibly zero) of each visit was classified as primary care sensitive (PCS), where the percentage is based on the diagnosis code.The visits were tabulated to find the percentage of visits to each facility or from each ZIP code which were classified as PCS. (Visits whose diagnosis was not matched by the algorithm were excluded.) The relationships between the percentages of PCS visits in each facility or ZIP code and characteristics of the facilities or ZIP codes were then analyzed.Facilities were grouped by Critical Access Hospital (CAH) status2 and by location (within, or not within, a primary care Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA), as determined using a tool from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services3). Percentages of PCS visits at different types of facilities were compared using t-tests.Variables reported in the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI)4 at the census tract level were converted to ZIP code-level data using a crosswalk from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development5. An ordinary least squares regression model in which these variables were used to predict the percentage of PCS visits in each ZIP code was fitted. The R package geoR6 was used to fit an additional model which accounted for spatial correlation across ZIP codes. In this model, ZCTA latitude and longitude coordinates from the U.S. Census7 were used as the ZIP codes' locations. Only ZIP codes for which the NYU algorithm matched diagnoses from at least 70% of visits were included in these models.ResultsThe overall proportion of PCS visits across all CAHs is significantly greater than the proportion at other facilities (p &lt; 0.0001). Likewise, the proportion of PCS visits at facilities in primary care HPSAs is significantly greater than the proportion at other facilities (p &lt; 0.0001). Among facilities for which the NYU algorithm matched diagnoses from at least 70% of visits, the mean percentage of PCS visits at facilities in primary care HPSAs is significantly higher than the mean at other facilities (p = 0.0009).The regression model for ZIP code-level data with spatial correlation was found to be better than the regression without spatial weighting. The spatial model found 3 of 16 SVI variables to be significant predictors of the percentage of ED visits which are PCS: after adjusting for all other variables, a one percentage point increase in minority makeup is associated with a 0.09 percentage point increase in PCS visits (p &lt; 0.0001), a one percentage point increase in persons in group quarters is associated with a 0.13 percentage point decrease in PCS visits (p = 0.0009), and a $1000 increase in per capita income is associated with a 0.12 percentage point decrease in PCS visits (p = 0.0011).ConclusionsED-based syndromic surveillance can only provide part of the picture for monitoring health conditions across Illinois. Understanding rates of PCS ED visits can enhance the interpretation of health trends. Lower rates can inform recruiting plans for capturing data from additional sources, such as urgent or immediate care facilities, while higher rates of PCS visits at EDs may indicate areas in need of more healthcare resources.

Social Context and Geographic Space: An Ecological Study about Hospitalizations of Older Persons

ObjectivesTo identify the diseases that lead older persons to hospitalizations in the public health system in the state of Rio de Janeiro and, through a study of spatial distribution among hospitalization rates of the municipal districts, discuss the social contexts involved in the hospitalization of the elderly. MethodsAn ecological cross-sectional study using secondary data from the Brazilian hospital information system from the period 2009 to 2015 was performed. The hospitalization rates of people 60 years and older, residing in 92 municipalities in the state of Rio de Janeiro, were calculated. The municipal districts were grouped according to the similarity of such rates using K-means nonhierarchical clustering analysis. ResultsDiseases of the circulatory and respiratory systems, endocrine disorders, illnesses of the genitourinary system or the digestive tract, and certain infectious and parasitic diseases were the most discriminatory diseases for cluster composition. The first cluster, the municipal districts with the lowest hospitalization rates, which were more urbanized and had greater access to social and health services, was named Access and Inclusion. The second group, which had the highest hospitalization rates, was named Isolation and Vulnerability. ConclusionsThe primary care–sensitive conditions are the main causes of hospitalization of the elderly in the state, with greater intensity in the municipalities that are geographically rugged and remote. These outcomes reinforce the importance of valuing geographical knowledge, the guidelines of the unified health system concerning equity and regionalization, and the determinants and social determinations involved in the process of health and disease.

Effect of the Family Health Strategy on hospitalizations for primary care sensitive conditions in infants in Bahia State, Brazil

This study aimed to assess the effect of the expansion of the Family Health Strategy (FHS) on hospitalizations for primary care sensitive conditions (PCSCs) in children under one year of age. This was a longitudinal ecological study with the use of panel data, for which the analytical units were the 417 municipalities (counties) in Bahia State, Brazil, from 2000 to 2012. Data were obtained from the official health information systems. The hospitalization rate for PCSCs was the outcome and FHS coverage was the principal exposure. The co-variables referred to demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and the local availability of pediatric beds. Bivariate and multivariate panel data analyses were performed, with negative binomial response and fixed effects models, using crude and adjusted relative risk (RR) as the measure of association, with the respective confidence intervals. To control for trend effect, the models were adjusted for time. From 2000 to 2012, 248,944 hospitalizations for PCSCs were recorded in children under one year, and the median municipal rate of hospitalizations for PCSCs decreased by 52.5% during the period, ranging from 96.9 to 46.0 avoidable hospitalizations per 1,000 live births. After adjusting the model, the reduction in avoidable hospitalizations was maintained at the different FHS coverage levels. This study demonstrated the effects of the consolidation of the FHS on hospitalizations for PCSCs in infants, which indicates the importance of strengthening primary care measures in order to offer case-resolving care during the first contact with the health system and avoid unnecessary hospitalizations.

Correction: The impact of the Brazilian family health on selected primary care sensitive conditions: A systematic review.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182336.].

Factors associated with the care of elderly persons with Primary Health Care sensitive conditions

Abstract Objective: to analyze factors associated with the care of the elderly for Primary Health Care sensitive conditions in an Emergency Care Unit. Method: a cross-sectional study was carried out in a municipal district located in the northwest of the state of Paraná, Brazil, between May and November of 2015. A semi-structured instrument was used, consisting of three distinct blocks that addressed sociodemographic profile, characterization of care and the reasons that led the elderly to seek care in the unit. The data were submitted to descriptive analysis and logistic regression for the treatment of variables. Results: A total of 191 elderly persons, who were female (56%), had less than eight years of schooling (85.3%) and were retirees (78.5%) were interviewed. The results showed that people with chronic morbidities were 1.42 times more likely (CI: 1.08 - 5.42) to seek the Emergency Care Unit prior to the Basic Health Unit and were 1.65 times more likely (IC: 1.01 - 6.82) to be referred by the unit for care. The lack of a doctor in Basic Health Units was also a factor responsible for the 1.36 times greater chance (CI: 1.03 - 5.38) of the elderly being referred to the Emergency Care Unit for primary care sensitive conditions. Conclusion: the lack of human resources in the first level of care of the health service, together with the need for treatment of morbidities, were factors associated with the elderly seeking treatment for primary care sensitive conditions, with diseases of the osteomuscular and connective tissue systems the main reasons for seeking such care (47.6%).

Hospitalizations for primary care sensitive conditions: association with socioeconomic status and quality of family health teams in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Hospitalizations for primary care sensitive conditions (HPCSC) have been used as a measure of the effectiveness of primary care. Few studies, however, have measured the quality of primary health care (PHC) and how it impacts HPCSC trends. We employed previously calculated quality scores of PHC attributes (access, continuous/ongoing care, coordinated care and comprehensive care) assigned to health centres and investigated the correlation between these quality scores and HPCSC time trends in public hospitals in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, adjusted by demographic and socioeconomic factors between 2010 and 2013. Socioeconomic risk was determined using the Health Vulnerability Index, a composite indicator including sanitation, habitation, education, income and health variables. Between 2010 and 2013, 447 500 hospitalizations, excluding births, were recorded in Belo Horizonte. Of these, 85 211 were HPCSC (19% of total admissions). Of 145 health centres, 133 were analysed in this study, with 75 059 HPCSC in the 4-year period. In the initial univariate model, only the PCH attribute 'access' and 'social vulnerability' had an effect on hospitalization rates. In the multilevel analysis, socioeconomic vulnerability became the only predictor of HPCSC rates. A 10% increase in high socioeconomic risk population meant an increase of 5 HPCSC/10 000 in women and 4/10 000 in men for each individual primary care unit, while a 10% increase in low-risk population meant a reduction in HPCSC of 6/10 000 in women and 5/10 000 in men. The results support the importance of using HPCSC as a measure of PHC effectiveness, considering individual, health service-related and socioeconomic characteristics; however, additional measures of effectiveness of care provided by family health teams seem necessary to assess PHC performance.