Tuberculose e saúde da família em Fortaleza : acesso ao diagnóstico e ao tratamento, ações de controle e grau de conhecimento dos profissionais de saúde

Abstract

Actions to control this disease lie within the Primary Care/ Family Health Program and aim to break the chain of transmission and possible illnesses in the community. The aim of this study was to measure the access to diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis, the control measures developed by Family Health teams in Fortaleza and the degree of knowledge of health professionals. This was a cross-sectional study. Eight Family Health Centers that served more cases of tuberculosis in the first quarter of 2011 were selected. The study population consisted of nurses, physicians, community health worker and TB patients on treatment. Interviews were conducted with TB patients and nurses and doctors. Moreover, nurses, doctors and community health workers answered a survey of knowledge about transmission, diagnosis, prevention, treatment and monitoring of tuberculosis. High level professionals were composed of 31 nurses and 17 doctors. There were 39 women. Mean age was 38.4 years. The most (81.8%) of community health workers had completed high school. Working in the service for three years or more was significant for participation in trainings (p= 0,0001). The initial care of TB treatment was achieved within one week. The follow-up care by doctor or nurse was classified by patients as good, clear and informative about the disease, treatment, medications and their adverse effects. The provision of bus passes was irregular and there was no food aid. There were disagreement responses of users and professionals in the actions of examination and investigation of household contacts. However, they agreed not to perform an active search for respiratory symptoms and educational work in the community. Nurses, doctors and community health workers had ratio of greater than 70% correct answers in tuberculosis. There were no statistically significant differences between nurses and physicians in the total number of correct answers, per question or thematic group. The community health workers who had work up to three years or more had a higher average (p= 0,0414). The weaknesses in tuberculosis control in the teams studied area occurred in actions aimed to involve families and the community, such as research of contacts, educational work in the community, search for respiratory symptoms, hampering access to early diagnosis.