Abstract
Objective:
to analyze the results of the National Census of Primary Health Care Centers with regard to architectural and communication barriers in Primary Health Care throughout Brazil.
Methods:
this was a cross-sectional study based on data from the first National Census of Primary Health Care Centers conducted between May and October 2012.
Results:
the Northern region had the lowest rates of adequacy; although the Southeast region had the best rates when compared to the country’s other regions, they were nevertheless unsatisfactory, since for many items adequacy was still below 50%; the items relating to accessibility by people with disabilities (5.7 to 34.2%) and/or the illiterate (0.1 to 27.4%) had very low scores.
Conclusion:
the majority of services evaluated had architectural and communication barriers, hindering access to health services by disabled, illiterate or elderly people; the importance of allocating resources to reduce iniquities and improve access is stressed.
Keywords:
Architectural Accessibility; Unified Health System; Primary Health Care; Barriers to Access of Health Services