Estudo da rede de atenção ao diabetes mellitus em Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais: avaliação da atenção primária à saúde quanto às dimensões de estrutura, processo e resultado e caracterização da população admitida na atenção secundária à saúde

Abstract

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is a condition with high morbidity and mortality. The complexity involved in managing patients with Diabetes mellitus requires changes in the health system that must be aligned with the Model of Care for Chronic Conditions. The objective of this study was to describe indicators of quality care for individuals with Diabetes mellitus in a medium-sized municipality in Brazil and to explore associations among these indicators. Methods: In this cross-sectional, observational study, physicians, managers, and community health agents filled out a questionnaire addressing issues related to health care structure and process at 14 primary health care units. We collected clinical and laboratory data from medical records of patients with Diabetes mellitus attending the primary health care units and from those referred to a multiprofessional secondary health care center. Categorical and quantitative variables were analyzed descriptively. Using random-effects linear regression, we explored the associations between structure and process elements at the primary health care units and clinical parameters of the users upon their admission to the secondary health care center. Results: Regarding the structure of the primary health care units, we observed an insufficient number of both offices available for multiprofessional care and amount of medications available to the patients. There was a shortage of professionals, with 53.8% of incomplete teams in the Family Health Strategy program, as well as a high proportion of problems reported by physicians and nurses regarding referrals to the secondary health care unit (70.0%). Also, there were a low percentage (51.2%) of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) results (a process indicator) in the medical records. In the medical records at the secondary health care unit, 18.7% of the patients presented HbA1c levels < 7% and 43.9% had blood pressure levels below 140x90 mmHg. There was no clear association between structure and process indicators at the primary health care units and the results of care recorded in the secondary health care units. Conclusion: Although we detected important structure and process problems in the care of patients with Diabetes mellitus at the primary health care units, these problems were not associated with the clinical status of the patients upon their admission to the secondary health care unit.