Abstract
Background
The structuring of health services is a fundamental element to respond to the burden of chronic diseases.
Objective
To analyze the relationship between hospitalizations and deaths due to diseases of the circulatory system and the structure in health services.
Method
A cross-sectional study developed in the state of the Brazilian central-west was carried out with a health region composed of 17 municipalities and 1,112,792 inhabitants. The demographic, epidemiological and health structure dimensions were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson's linear correlation.
Results
The mortality rate due to diseases of the circulatory system was 29.49%, higher than the findings in the country and in the center-west. There was a significant correlation between hospitalization for ischemic heart diseases and number of beds, and between hospitalization for diseases of the circulatory system and number of specialized services for each 10,000 inhabitants.
Conclusion
The differences found between hospitalizations and the existence of specialized services and beds indicate that the population that lives in municipalities with a complex service structure has more access to services and hospitalizations. The results demonstrate that there must be greater care in the conformation and offer of services in the Health Care Network for diseases of the circulatory system, aiming to ensure equity in the population's access to the agreed services.
Keywords:
health policy; health services; regionalization; equity in access; cardiovascular diseases