Assessment of the coordination of primary healthcare: comparison of PMAQ-AB (Brazil) and international references

This study aimed to compare the results obtained with the coordination of care through the Brazilian National Program for Improvement of Access and Quality of Basic Care (PMAQ-AB), with the parameters adopted by the Care Coordination Measures Atlas and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. A cross-sectional study was performed using the dataset from the third cycle of the PMAQ-AB. Three typologies of coordination of care were created: PMAQ-AB, Atlas, and Observatory. Chi-square test was applied to compare proportions and Kruskal-Wallis and Nemenyi tests to verify and identify potential differences between the typologies. Significance was set at 5%. In all, 35,350 teams were assessed that performed some activity in care coordination. A significant difference was observed (p < 0.001) between levels of coordination, with a higher percentage between the high and medium levels in the three instruments, PMAQ-AB (56.07% and 38.35%), Atlas (52.63% and 40.66%), and Observatory (44.82% and 43.98%). In the comparison of the indicators, there was a significant difference (p < 0.001) between the typologies. For Brazil, in the PMAQ-AB typology, all the strata displayed a higher percentage between the high and medium levels; in the Atlas, stratum 1 stood out in the medium level (43.81%); the high level predominated in the Observatory. In the comparison of the indicators by strata, at least one stratum differed from the others (p < 0.001). Number 6 differed from the others (p < 0.001), and number 1 differed from all of them (p < 0.001) except number 2 (p > 0.05). The levels of coordination of care differed according to the instruments used. High and medium levels were identified, showing the need for additional studies.