Impact of distance education on primary health care indicators in central Brazil: An ecological study with time trend analysis.

Objective: The objective of this study was to verify whether the inclusion of professionals who completed a specialized distance learning course in family health teams is associated with rates of hospitalization for primary healthcare-sensitive conditions and better monitoring of chronic conditions in municipalities within the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

Methods: Negative binomial regression models with fixed effects were used for the 79 municipalities in the state, with repeated observations for the selected years (2009-2015). For our reference, the parameter "Municipality Ratio" was the number of professionals who completed the course divided by the total number of PHC professionals in the municipality.