Social and demographic profile of Unified Health System users in a medium-sized city of southern Brazil

ABSTRACT

Aim: The use of health services is a complex behavior and results from a series of determinantsthat includes the users’ social and demographic characteristics. The current survey interprets thesocial and demographic profile of Unified Health System (UHS; SUS in Portuguese) users fromPelotas RS Brazil, which was conducted by interviews with 333 users from five Health Basic Units(HBUs). Methods: The social and demographic characterization was deployed by the variablessex, age, occupation, city/town or district of origin, number of family members, use of continuousmedication, diseases and family income. Results: HBU users were mostly women (82.4%),within the 30-40-year-old age range (21.4%), housewives (36.3%) from Pelotas (96.2%) andfrom the district of Fragata (26.1%). Families of users comprise mostly two to four members(66.6%), with an income of one to two minimum wages (66.2%). Fifty-one percent of theinterviewees do not use continuous medication, while hypertension was the most cited disease(51.8%). Conclusions: An understanding of HBU users’ characteristics and their associatedsocial and demographic context may contribute towards a better reception and may confirm theUHS contribution towards universality and equality of public health care.