Avaliação da qualidade da atenção primária à saúde da criança, na perspectiva do usuário

Abstract

This research aimed at assessing the quality of child health in Primary Health Care in Cuiabá- MT, from the user’s perspective. The age group chosen was that of children under five years due to the importance of this period in childhood and child development. The evaluation criteria were based on the essential and derived attributes of Primary Health Care, according to Starfield: access to the first contact, longitudinality, integrality and coordination, family and community guidance. An evaluative, quantitative, cross-sectional research was carried out, using the PCATool instrument, children’s version validated for Brazil in 2006. The sample consisted of 385 children, collected from July to October 2016 in 67 Family Health units. Good general and essential scores for the municipality of Cuiabá were observed, but some attributes were unsatisfactory. The best evaluated attributes for Cuiabá were the access, in relation to the use of the services; the coordination regarding the information system and integrality in relation to care delivered. The attributes with the worst evaluation were the access in relation to accessibility and the integrality in terms of available services. It was observed that the evaluation of primary care was better for the age group under two years, and presented higher scores in four attributes in relation to the age group of 2 to 5 years. It is concluded that there are several challenges to overcome in the health care of the child, such as precarious conditions of the structure, difficulty in access, fragmented care, inequalities in the regional.