The socioeconomic development, supply and complexity of health actions and services in a regional context may be considered structural constraints to the success of the current process of health care regionalization in Brazil. The main objective of this study is to identify the structural determinants of the regionalization process by building a typology of health regions in Brazil. A typology of Brazilian health regions was developed from available secondary data sources. The dimensions and groups that form the typology were identified through factor analysis and cluster analysis. The type of service provider both for out and inpatients was also identified. Results: the regions were classified into five independent groups according to their socioeconomic profile and characteristics of the health service supply. The characterization of Brazilian health regions through the typology demonstrates high levels of heterogeneity throughout Brazil, and the complex organization of the regional health systems. The proposed typology could contribute to future research and better understanding of this complex and contradictory scenario, supporting the urgently required development of integrated regional public policies that simultaneously involve economic and social development and the strengthening of regional spaces of governance in order to promote the organization of regional health systems grounded on the principles of the SUS (Brazilian National Health System), under a shared, joint management with the objective of ensuring the universal right to health.

This review focuses only on specific studies into the SUS regionalization process

As Unidades de Pronto Atendimento (UPAs) são classificadas, segundo a Política Nacional de Atenção às Urgências, de acordo com a capacidade física instalada, o número de leitos disponíveis, gestão de pessoas e a capacidade diária de realizar os atendimentos médicos. Objetivou-se identificar as características estruturais e de planejamento do serviço das UPAs às redes de atenção no Paraná. É um estudo de casos com entrevistas semiestruturadas com os coordenadores das UPAs, realizadas em 2012. Os dados foram armazenados e analisados em frequências absolutas e relativas. As UPAs necessitam estar integradas em uma política de Redes de Atenção à Saúde para ampliar a sua resolutividade.

This is an observational quantitative and analytical study aimed at verifying the knowledge, acceptability and use of natural family planning (NFP) by patients in a university hospital from July to November, 2008. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed with the softwares Excel and Statistica 8.0. Of the 113s women interviewed, 70 (62%) accepted the method and 1 (0.9%) used it routinely. Acceptance was higher among those who wished to become pregnant in the future compared to those who did not wish it. Acceptability was statistically significant (p = 0.0147) among the 28 (80%) non-contraceptive users compared to 42 (53.8%) who used some contraceptive method. Factors such as age, education, number of living children and religion were not statiscally associated with the acceptability of NFP. The Billings ovulation method has an adequate acceptability, but has a low actual use because of the lack of information by health professionals of its real effectiveness and applicability.

No abstract

Objectives: to present a methodology used by the Policy, Planning

Objectives: To propose a regional synthetic indicator (ISR)

Keywords► human chorionic gonadotropin ► β subunit ► premature rupture of fetal membranes ► diagnosis ► obstetrics ► pregnancy complications AbstractPurpose This study aimed to evaluate and validate the qualitative human chorionic gonadotropin β subunit (β-hCG) test of the vaginal fluid washings of pregnant women with premature rupture of fetal membranes (PROM).Methods Cross-sectional study of pregnant women between gestational weeks 24 and 39 who underwent consultations in one of our institutions. They were divided into two groups: group A (pregnant women clinically diagnosed with PROM) and group B (pregnant women without loss of amniotic liquid). The patients were subjected to a vaginal fluid washing with 3 mL of saline solution, which was aspirated subsequently with the same syringe. The solution was immediately sent to the laboratory to perform the vaginal β-hCG test with cut-off points of 10 mIU/mL (β-hCG-10) and/or 25 mIU/mL (β-hCG-25).Results The β-hCG-10 test of the vaginal secretion was performed in 128 cases. The chi-squared test with Yates' correction showed a statistically significant difference between the 2 groups (p ¼ 0.0225). The sensibility, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy parameters were 77.1%, 43.6%, 52.3%; 70.4%; and 58.6% respectively. The β-hCG-25 test of the vaginal washing