District Allocation and Utilization of Health Care Services in the Case of Pau da Lima, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

• Published in: Cadernos de saúde pública Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 72 - 84
• Main Authors: Silva, Ligia Maria V. da, migli, Vera Lucia A, Cerqueira, Macius P, Kruchevsky, Leonardo, Teixeira, Marcia Maria A, Barbosa, Antonio Sergio M, Concicao, Paulo Sergio de A., Khouri, Mauro de A., Nascimento, Carlito L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: 01-01-1995
• Subjects: Brazil; Diseases; Females; Health Care Utilization; Health Services; Households
• ISSN: 0102-311X

Utilization patterns for health services in the neighborhood of Pau de Lima in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, were studied with 1992 survey data on the previous month's health care usage in 384 families with 1,887 household members. Per descriptive analysis, 12.5% reported at least 1 visit to health facilities, with 74% of these going to private facilities because of accessibility. Women ages 15-19 were the major health care users, & disease-related conditions rather than prevention were more commonly (76%) the cause for the visit. These results, which provide evidence that the lack of health care infrastructure & coverage & organizational problems are driving patients outside of their assigned districts, encourage district allocation of health care services; in this process, the private sector is undergoing expansion as the Brazilian public budget collapses. 7 Tables, 30 References. Adapted from the source document.