Organização dos serviços de saúde para o diagnóstico e tratamento dos casos de tuberculose em Manaus, Amazonas, 2014*

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 1 st and 6 st 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.