Reported morbidity, vaccination status and access to health services in early childhood

Abstract

Paper design: prevalence study. Objective: To identify the major reasons that lead children aged 3 to 6 years to seek medical assistance at basic health care centers as well as to review their vaccination status and to determine at which frequency they attend to health care stations. Methods: A total of 370 medical records of children between 3 and 6 years old assisted at four Family Health Centers and one Basic Health Care Center were reviewed. Information regarding sex, age, number of consultations within the past 12 months, vaccination status and complaints reported at visits were collected. The complaints were organized in 28 categories according to the problem or affected organ. The frequency and percentage of all complaints were calculated as well as the indices of medical consultations per year and the vaccination coverage..Results: The most predominantly found complaints were cough, fever, nose problems, skin/scalp problems, gastric disorders, lack of appetite or loss of weight, emotional or behavioral disturbances, abdominal pains, respiratory and pulmonary disorders and ear problems. Only 3.2% of the children were not with their vaccination card updated and the number of consultations was 3.56 on average. Conclusions: Although the basic health care assistance tends to emphasize the aspects of prevention and heath promotion, there still is a privilege of the physical dimension at health promoters' sight and also in the search for assistance. The psychosocial aspects of health care should receive more attention.