Desigualdades regionais em indicadores de saúde no Brasil: análise descritiva com dados do PROADESS

Introduction: Indicators from the Health System Performance Assessment Project (PROADESS) allow regional differences in health conditions and services to be described. Objective: To compare four indicators across Brazil’s five geographic regions and describe their changes over time. Methods: This descriptive ecological study examined annual series of infant mortality (2000–2021) and estimated primary care coverage (2007–2020), alongside population cross-sections of positive self-rated health and self-reported medical consultations (1998, 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2019). Values, endpoint differences and regional ranges were compared without significance testing or causal effect estimation. Results: Infant mortality in Brazil decreased from 21.3 to 11.9 deaths per 1,000 live births; in the Northeast, from 26.5 to 13.1, and in the North, from 25.1 to 15.0. Estimated primary care coverage increased from 41.7% to 75.8%, subject to a methodological change in July 2007. National positive self-rated health decreased from 79.1% to 67.8%, while reported consultations increased from 54.7% to 76.2%. Regional ranges for self-rated health and consultations increased from 7.2 to 14.8 and from 8.1 to 12.6 percentage points, respectively. Conclusion: Lower infant mortality and expanded coverage and consultation use coexisted with persistent regional differences. These indicators capture distinct dimensions and do not, on their own, demonstrate policy impacts or overall system performance.