[Use of health services by quilombo communities in southwest Bahia State, Brazil].
Use of health services is increasing in Brazil as a whole, but geographic and social inequalities persist, especially among minority groups. The aim of this study was to analyze the use of health services by members of quilombos (slavedescendant African-Brazilian communities) in Vitória da Conquista, Bahia State, Brazil. This cross-sectional health survey in 2011 focused on 797 adults (≥ 18 years old) belonging to quilombos. The magnitude of the associations between explanatory variables and use of services was estimated by the prevalence ratio obtained from Poisson regression with 95% confidence interval. Of the total sample, 455 (57.1%) reported having used health services in the 12 months prior to the interview. Higher rates of health services utilization were associated with female gender, non-single conjugal status, fair, poor, or very poor self-rated health, enrolment in the Family Health Program, and referral to a health facility for regular or on-going care. The results showed underutilization of health services by members of quilombos, thus demonstrating the need to improve health services provision for this population group.
Universidade Federal da Bahia, Vitória da Conquista, Brasil.
Karine de Oliveira
Kde O
Gomes
Edna Afonso
EA
Reis
Mark Drew Crosland
MD
Guimarães
Mariângela Leal
ML
Cherchiglia
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044383:Black People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001938:Brazil / Q000208:ethnology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult