Risk of misinterpretation of trends in hospital admissions for primary care sensitive conditions in local contexts: Itaboraí, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, 2006-2011.

The study's objectives were to describe hospital admissions for primary care sensitive conditions (PCSCs) among residents of Itaboraí, a municipality in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, with a high rate of such admissions, to identify associated factors, and to explore the impact from closing a hospital. The ultimate aim was to contribute to the debate on the indicator's indiscriminate use for inferences on the expansion and quality of primary care. The study was based on data from the Hospital Information System of the Brazilian Unified National Health System. Associations between admissions for PCSCs and demographic and hospital-related variables were analyzed with the χ2 test. Logistic regression models verified the year-by-year behavior of admissions for PCSCs. The most frequent admissions were for heart failure, asthma, gastroenteritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and diabetes mellitus. The odds of hospital admissions were higher in males, brown individuals, at age extremes, and in private and charity hospitals. The trend in the admissions rates for PCSCs over the years was influenced by the closing of a hospital, suggesting caution in attributing changes in admissions rates to quality improvement in primary care.