Abstract
Objective:
to describe the organization of health services for tuberculosis case diagnosis and treatment in the city of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.
Methods:
this was a descriptive study of 156 new tuberculosis cases diagnosed and residing in Manaus in 2014, characterized according to socioeconomic, demographic, health-disease process aspects, relationship with health services and treatment outcome, by administering individual questionnaires in the 1st and 6st months of treatment.
Results:
some 70% of cases were diagnosed at the tuberculosis reference center; most of the cases were unaware that there was a community health agent in their neighborhood; regarding treatment follow-up, 55.3% had to join an appointment waiting list; only 67.3% of cases were monitored by the same professional throughout entire treatment.
Conclusion:
the findings indicate presence of barriers to case diagnosis and treatment, both in the referral center and also in primary healthcare units.
Keywords:
Tuberculosis; Health Services; Diagnostic Services; Time-to-Treatment