Hospitalizations owing to ambulatory care sensitive conditions in Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil - an ecological study, 2001-2011

Objective: to evaluate trends in rates of hospitalizations owing to ambulatory care sensitive conditions in the municipality of Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil, from 2001 to 2011, and to assess correlation with the public health expendutures Family Health Strategy (FHS) population coverage. Methods: this was an ecological study using Ministry of Health secondary data; data were analyzed using Poisson Regression. Results: the regression coefficient was 0.97, showing a decrease of 3% per year in hospitalizations owing to ambulatory care sensitive conditions, a three-fold increase in FHS coverage and seven times more financial investment per capita in health services, from R$67.65 in 2001 to R$471.03 in 2011; FHS investments per capita in health and population coverage were negatively correlated to the rate of hospitalizations owing to ambulatory care sensitive conditions. Conclusion: financial investment and FHS expansion had led to major reductions in the rate of hospitalizations owing to ambulatory care sensitive conditions.