Itinerario terapeutico

4433

Therapeutic itineraries: state of the art of scientific production in Brazil

Ana Lucia Lobo Vianna Cabral 1
Angel Martinez-Hemáez 2
Eli Iola Gurgel Andrade 3
Mariangela Leal Cherchiglia 3

1
Universidade Federal de
Minas Gerais - UFMG [e-mail]
2
Departamento de
Antropologia, Universitat
Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona,
Espanha)
3
Grupo de Pesquisa em
Economia da Saúde,
Departamento de Medicina
Preventiva e Social,
Faculdade de Medicina,
UFMG

Abstract Knowledge about the itineraries of people seeking healthcare may contribute to our understanding of behavior in relation to healthcare and utilization of health services. In Brazil, however, despite their relevance there have been few studies into healthcare-seeking behavior and those available are relatively new and have not received the attention they deserve from health researchers and managers. This article presents the results of a survey of the Brazilian scientific literature on this subject published in the past 20 years, describing and analyzing the approaches used.
Data were collected between September and November 2008 through the portal of the Virtual
Health Library. The search located 11 articles and content analysis was used to generate categories.
The majority of these studies are grounded in socio-anthropological theory, and the main focus of interest is the patient’s perception of disease and treatment. Only a few of these publications address patients’ access to and utilization of health services. It is argued that the study of healthcareseeking behavior can be an important tool for improving the quality of healthcare.
Key words Anthropology, Helthcare-Seeking behavior, Accessibility of health services

Resumo O conhecimento sobre os itinerários de pessoas em busca de atenção à saúde pode contribuir para compreensão sobre o comportamento em relação ao cuidado e utilização de serviços de saúde. Apesar de sua potencialidade, os estudos