Prevalencia e fatores associados à consulta médica e solicitação de exames complementares: um estudo de base populacional.

Abstract

Aims: To explore individual characteristics related to a greater likelihood of consulting a physician, and to evaluate excess of consultations. Methods: Population-based cross-sectional study including 3100 adults (≥ 20 years) living in Pelotas, a southern Brazilian city. The sample was selected in multiplestages. Socio-economic, demographic and health-related variables were investigated, as well as the number of consultations within the three months prior to the interview. Over utilization was defined as four or more consultations in the period. Multivariable analysis was based on a conceptual framework, and took the clustering of the sample into account. Results: The prevalence of consultation was 55,1%. Women, those living with partners, hospitalized in the previous 12 months, former smokers, diabetic and hypertensive subjects were most likely to visit a physician in the previous three months. While age was positively related to the number of consultations, selfreported health status showed the inverse pattern. The prevalence of over utilization was 9%. Over utilization was higher among women, those hospitalized in the previous 12 months and with history of hypertension. Age and body mass index were positively related to over consultation, while selfreported health status presented a negative trend. Conclusion: Focusing on the individuals determinants of medical consultations, our study detects some sub-groups of the entire population which use and over use health services. These data are essential for policy makers, in order to better organize health services based on the real demand.