AMBULATORY AND EMERGENCY HEALTH CARE IN A PUBLIC HOSPITAL

Abstract

Background: The goal of this paper is to understand the gender and age profile of the users of ambulatory services at Public Hospital (PH). Gender and age are fundamental elements for the construction of public policies at local and regional level. Methods: We performed a 3-year retrospective data collection, regarding age and gender of the population of the outpatient clinic of the PH between 2013 and 2015. It is a research with quantitative approach performed through three databases from january 2013 to December 2015 totaling 460,505 consultations. The database of the Public Hospital was adopted as the primary source, it was also consulted the database of the last two censuses of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and the database of the Regional Health Division. The cross-checking of data, through Microsoft Excel and the Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) software, allowed the construction of a graph structured by gender and age according to the standards defined by IBGE on 2010, as well as the comparison between age and gender profile of the total population attended by PH and its consultations. Results: In the period from 2013 to 2015, 460,505 patients were attended. In the in question, the female audience represents 60.5% of the attendances, while the male population accounts for 39.5%. Only in the age groups between 0 and 14 and 85 to 89 years the male audience is larger. The difference in care is accentuated in the middle of the pyramid, in the ranges between 30 and 69 years, during which time women are responsible for 65.5% of the attendances against 34.5% of men. Such gender proportional differences are maintained on the total population, the only significant variation is on the age group from 80 and older where although there is a female majority of users, there is also a larger female majority on the population. Conclusions: The data found agrees with other studies regarding the same theme, which indicates a majority of female use of health care. The existence of a female majority demands the analyses of how to provide a better service for women. Furthermore, there is a need to better understand sociocultural and institutional barriers for the strategic proposal of measures that will promote the access of men to the primary care services, which should be the gateway to the health system.