Fatores associados à avaliação da qualidade da atenção primária à saúde por idosos residentes na Região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 2010*

Abstract

Objective: to analyze factors associated with the perception of quality of primary health care (PHC) services by older adults. Methods: this was a cross-sectional survey with 893 older adults aged 60 years and over living in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil; the study's outcomes were the indicators of the essential attributes of PHC, while explanatory variables included sociodemographic conditions, use of health services and health conditions; Poisson regression with robust variance was used. Results: older adults aged 80 years and over, women and those with higher education levels gave better evaluations for access and longitudinality, while evaluation was worst among those who reported greater use of health services and chronic health conditions, especially for the PHC attributes of coordination of care and family and community orientation. Conclusion: poorer health conditions and higher use of services are associated with a more negative perception of PHC attributes among the elderly.

Satisfaction of octogenarians with Primary Health Care services

“…The results of the present study are consistent with other studies with octogenarians, in terms of sociodemographic profile: there was a higher frequency of women, aged between 80 and 84 years, who were widows, had low levels of education, an individual income below the minimum wage, were retirees and had a large number of morbidities 2,16,17 .…”

“…The low levels of education may be related to cultural aspects. In addition to access to schools, this situation may be the result of cultural and generational factors, which results from the non-stimulus for these individuals to attend school, as well as labor activities being related to low schooling, which ends up affecting financial conditions 17,18 .…”

“…It is essential that the professional practices of those inserted in the PHC is humanized, with a welcoming manner that creates bonds 4,9,17 . A good relationship between users and health professionals is associated with the likelihood of generating greater satisfaction with the service, including the care of professionals who work in the reception of the units, a flexible waiting system with short waits for consultations and good relationships with professionals 24 .…”

Fatores associados ao desempenho de serviços da atenção primária à saúde

“…Além disso, a escolaridade também foi um fator que influenciou a qualidade dos escores essencial e geral da APS. Ao contrário do que foi demonstrado neste estudo, a maior escolaridade está associada a uma melhor percepção de desempenho da APS, podendo estar relacionada à capacidade do usuário obter, compreender e comunicar informações básicas em saúde (24,25) . Um maior nível de escolaridade pode proporcionar maior compreensão do que é orientado, bem como propiciar o levantamento de questões relativas à saúde que envolvem o bemestar e aspectos preventivos (22) .…”

“…Incluíram-se na modelagem as variáveis que apresentaram valor de p<0,25 nas associações bivariadas. No modelo final, após a execução de procedimentos backward não automáticos, mantiveram-se aquelas com valor de p<0,05.…”