Structure and work process regarding child care in Primary Health Care in Brazil: an ecological study with data from the Program for Primary Health Care Access and Quality Improvement 2012-2018.

Objective: To assess the structure of primary health care centers (PHCCs) and the work process of primary care teams in child care in Brazil.

Methods: This was an ecological study with data from the three cycles of the Program for Primary Health Care Access and Quality Improvement 2012-2018, by states and regions. Seven structural and thirteen procedural indicators were analyzed. Student's t-test was used to compare indicator averages between regions.

Results: 85,845 teams participated in the three cycles of the program, grouped into 68,320 PHCCs. In the last evaluation cycle (2017-2018), mean percentage adequacy rates were higher among the structure indicators: health center operation (99%), equipment/materials (82%), vaccine availability (74%) and medication dispensing (70%). Population without coverage (68%) and making appointments with specialists (52%) corresponded to the lowest percentages of adequacy of process indicators.

Conclusion: Process indicators had higher levels of adequacy than structure indicators.