OBJECTIVE: as part of the World Health Organization project of nations' the World Health Survey was performed in Brazil in 2003. This paper has the objective of disclosing social and economic health inequalities through information collected in the Brazilian World Health Survey. METHODS: the population-based survey was conducted in 5000 households selected by probabilistic sampling. To assess social and economic inequalities, three variables were considered: schooling level, number of household belongings and employment status. Logistic regression models were used to establish socioeconomic determinant factors of good self-rated health, as well as periodic gynecologic examination and mammography. As for the health system performance, services were evaluated according to users' expectations. RESULTS: an outstanding social grading was determined for self-rated health as well as for the coverage of preventive periodic health exams among women. When comparing evaluation of healthcare through payment, "good" rating percentage was always lower for SUS (universal healthcare public system) users for all of the aspects assessed. CONCLUSIONS: healthcare inequalities as demonstrated here should be considered to subsidize public policies and actions of the healthcare system that meet real population needs to overcome social exclusion.
Health system; Employee performance appraisal; Socioeconomic factors
