This is a description of the process of medical care to children with asthma, through an audit carried out concomitantly with a cross-sectional study with children living in the catchment area of a Family Health Unit, to find the prevalence of asthma and to assess maternal knowledge about the disease. Medical records of families whose children had asthma and visited doctors in the previous 12 months were used as sources of data. Of the 258 children identified with asthma, 69 (26.7%) had visited the unit because of the disease. Weight was recorded in 76.8% of the medical records, respiratory frequency in 26.1%, intercostal retractions in 21.7%, cyanosis in 1.4%, and orientations on the use of medication in 33.3%. Orientations on the signs and symptoms of severity and crisis management were recorded in 15.9% of the charts and trigger factors, environmental changes, and behavior were recorded in 14.5% of them. There were records of prescription of bronchodilators for 55.1% of the children and of bronchodilator plus corticosteroid for 42.0% of them. The low percentage of records of orientation is an evidence of the deficiencies of medical care in Family Health Units, especially regarding education in health.
Asthma; Child health; Primary health care; Medical audit; Medical records
