Accessibility to tuberculosis diagnosis in a municipality in Northeast Brazil: a challenge for basic health care

Abstract

A cross-sectional study with the aim to analyze the performance of healthcare services with respect to diagnosing tuberculosis. We interviewed 101 users with tuberculosis, residents of a municipality in the Northeast region of Brazil. Bivariate analysis and the chi-squared test were applied for data treatment. We found a p<0.05 statistical significance between the first health service sought by user and the locale of diagnosis. Primary Health Care services (PHC) were chosen as the entryway by 46.5% of users. However, the Tuberculosis Control Program was responsible for 54.4% of diagnosed cases. Regarding time of diagnosis, 83.2% patients were diagnosed in a period of time equal to or less than 30 days. PHC services are still not efficient enough for guaranteeing access to the disease’s diagnosis, and it is the Reference Outpatient Clinic’s responsibility to offer actions for detecting and treating cases.

doi: 10.5216/ree.v16i3.23491.