The scope of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of the use of physiotherapy by women and analyze the variables associated with its utilization. A population-based cross-sectional study was carried out with 885 women aged over 18 living in the urban area of Guarapuava, Parana state, Brazil. A confidence level of 95% and an error margin of 3% were used for sample calculations. The sample was randomly selected and the interviews were carried out between October and December 2006. Statistica 7.1 and SAS 9.1 software was used to analyze the data, and the prevalence, chi-square and multivariate analysis were calculated and logistic regression was performed. The prevalence of the use of physiotherapy by women was 27.3%, where 48% used the public service, 45% used health insurance services and only 7% used private services. Variables including age, profession, financial conditions and type of assistance were associated with the use of physiotherapy (p<0,0001). It was concluded that the majority of women used physiotherapy for orthopedic problems. Surveys involving physiotherapy need to be conducted to encourage the use of this form of therapy.
Physiotherapy; Women's health; Epidemiology; Cross-sectional study; Household survey
