The impact of interventions in Primary Health Care on Preventable Hospitalizations For Ambulatory Care–Sensitive (ACSCs) of elderly in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“Preventable” hospitalizations have been proposed as indicators of health plan performance. Preventable hospitalizations present a broader view and refer to those admissions 'resulting from diseases preventable through population-based health promotion strategies, eg. alcohol-related conditions' and those 'avoidable through injury prevention (eg. road traffic accidents). Ambulatory Care-Sensitive Conditions Hospitalizations (ACSCs) analyses may also be used to identify or evaluate interventions that are likely to be effective in fulfilling health needs. The objective of this study is to know the composition and the tendency among the elderly and the ACSC and to correlate this to the coverage and access to primary care services in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between 2000 and 2010. We observed the tendency of reduced ACSC mainly of the chronic lung diseases during this period. We found a high correlation between the interventions in elderly primary care and the decrease of ACSC, what indicates effectiveness of the health program. The elderly men have more risk to ACSC than women. The results show that the study of ACSC is relevant for monitoring the performance of the health system with regard to improving the quality of life for elderly people.