Factors associated with waiting for physiotherapy service: analysis from the Access and Quality Improvement Program (PMAQ)

Abstract

Introduction: Historically, the difficulty of referrals to specialized health services has been discussed. Objective: To analyze the factors associated with waiting time for specialized physio-therapy services. Methods: Cross-sectional, multilevel study, with secondary data, based on the external evaluation of the second cycle of the Access and Quality Improvement Program and the United Nations Development Program. The explanatory variables for the outcome "Estimated waiting time of users for specialized consultations – Physiotherapy" were grouped according to the characteristics of the family health teams and contextual factors. In the statistical analysis, Poisson’s Multilevel Regression was used. A significance level of 5% was adopted (p < 0.05). Results: Observed association of the time of referral to physiotherapy with the health teams that receive support for the planning of the work process (n = 25.476; 83,4%; p < 0.0001), that the management provides information about the health situation (n = 26.505; 86,8%; p < 0.0016), receives support for the discussion of monitoring data (n = 24.149; 79,1%; p < 0.0001), receives permanent institutional support (n = 25.140; 82,3%; p < 0.0001), gets feedback from the evaluation carried out by the special-ists (n = 22.801; 76,6%; p < 0.0001) and in the teams that are supported by the NASF physiotherapist (n = 5.666; 18,6%; p < 0.0001), with an association for the Gini Index (p < 0.044) and the HDI (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: The referral time to the specialized physiotherapy service was shown to be associated with both system organization and management factors, as well as contextual variables.