QUALITY EVALUATION OF PRIMARY HEALTH-CARE AN URBAN AREA OF SOUTHERN BRAZIL

A 10% sample of patients who attended two Primary Health Care Units (P HCU) in Pelotas, RS (Brazil) was studied cross-sectinonally for the pu rpose of measuring qualitatively the attention being offered to the po pulation. According to domiciliar interviews, 15 days after their appo intments, a solution (cure or improvement) was achieved in 87.9% of th e patients. Patients or parents satisfaction (in the case of pediatric patients) was observed in nearly 90% of the sample. Patient satisfact ion and solution were statistically associated (p=0.04). Association b etween the solution and the availability of medicines in the PHCU was observed. Patients who had received the whole or a part of their treat ment had 33% greater probability of solving their problem. Professiona l satisfaction was linearly associated with both perception of a bette r professional-patient relationship (PR=3.48; CI95%2.17-5.59) and the expectation of a better patient prognosis (PR=1.99; CI95%1.36-2.91).