Description of demand in a Family Health Unit

Introduction: The reasons for encounters at Family Health Centers are diverse. However, it is important to diagnose the main needs of the population so that the system of primary care may be reorganized to solve the most prevalent problems of the population. In this context, it becomes strategic to the organization of Primary Health Care the improvement of care programs at this level, such as the Family Health Strategy, by knowing the demand profile that looks for the installed system of Primary Care. Objectives: To carry out a demographic profile analysis of the study population, emphasizing the most prevalent gender and age in primary care, highlighting which diseases, signs, and symptoms are more common in this population; to describe the main attendance reasons at a Family Health Center, and to highlight the demand from users for referrals to specialist services in Family Health Centers. Methods: This is an observational, transversal, and descriptive study. It was conducted at the Center for Family Health Luís Albuquerque Mendes, which is located in Fortaleza, Ceará, from February to June, 2010. Results: The prevalence of women and people aged above 40 years-old at the Basic Health Unit was of 72.2 and 54.5%, respectively. The most common reason of service in the Unit was hypertension, with a 15.2% prevalence. Regarding the most frequent symptoms, low back pain came first with 13.8% and headache in second with 6.9%. The most prevalent disease was hypertension with 37%. Only 1.6% of users sought the Unit to request referrals to special services. Conclusions: This study helped to characterize the demographic profile of users from a Primary Health Care and it diagnoses the major causes of attendance in the Unit, emphasizing the most prevalent complaints and diseases.