Hospitalizations due to primary care sensitive conditions: an ecological study

Hospitalizations for Cardiovascular Diseases Sensitive to Primary Health Care in Paraná State, Brazil: A Bayesian Spatiotemporal Model

PURPOSE

To analyze spatiotemporal trends in hospitalizations for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) sensitive to primary health care (PHC) among individuals aged 50-69 years in Paraná State, Brazil, from 2014 to 2019 and investigate correlations between PHC services and the Social Development Index.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional ecological study using publicly available secondary data to analyze the municipal incidence of hospitalizations for CVD sensitive to PHC and to estimate the risk of hospitalization for this group of diseases and associated factors using hierarchical Bayesian spatiotemporal modeling with Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation.

RESULTS

There was a 5% decrease in the average rate of hospitalizations for PHC-sensitive CVD from 2014 to 2019. Regarding standardized hospitalization rate (SHR) according to population size, we found that no large municipality had an SHR >2. Likewise, a minority of these municipalities had SHR values of 1-2 (33%). However, many small and medium-sized municipalities had SHR values >2 (47% and 48%, respectively). A greater Social Development Index value served as a protective factor against hospitalizations, with a relative risk of 0.957 (95% credible interval, 0.929-0.984).

CONCLUSIONS

The annual risk of hospitalization decreased over time; however, small municipalities had the greatest rates of hospitalization, indicating an increase in health inequity. The inverse association between social development and hospitalizations for CVD sensitive to PHC raises questions about intersectionality in health care.

Expenses of hospitalization for ambulatory care sensitive conditions in the Health Regional Offices of the State of São Paulo

Objective:

To analyze the expenses of hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions in the Health Regional Offices of the State of São Paulo.

Methods:

An ecological, retrospective cohort, with analysis of hospital admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions in the state of São Paulo, from 2014 to 2018, compiled by the Hospital Information System. Data were extracted using the Tabwin application and analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Results:

There was a 14.49% reduction in the amount spent on hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions. There were reductions in the frequency of hospitalizations (−1.26) and hospital stay (−0.54), and an increase in the occurrence of deaths (8.02). The Regional Offices of Barretos, Taubaté and Araraquara showed an increase in expenses in the period, by 37.86%, 15.38% and 3.78%, respectively, while all other Regional Offices showed a reduction; in that, the most significant were in Bauru (−31.90%), São João da Boa Vista (−26.18%), Presidente Prudente (−21.00%) and São Paulo (−19.17%). The value of hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions showed a strong and positive correlation with the variables frequency and hospital stay.

Conclusion:

The results pointed to a difference in the amounts spent on hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions in the Regional Offices, although there was no difference in the frequency and duration of these hospitalizations. The expansion of Primary Health Care resources is a possible element for reducing the frequency and spending on hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions; nonetheless, it is necessary to consider other factors, such as social determinants and the organization of health services.