Spatiotemporal analysis of outpatient physiotherapy services in primary health care

Abstract Introduction: Assessing health conditions based on out-patient care data is one of the tools used to support the development of an appropriate health action plan aimed at meeting the real needs of the population. Objective: Analyze the spatiotemporal distribution of outpatient physiotherapy services in primary health care in Brazil and its geographic regions from 2008 to 2022. Methods: This was an analytical ecological time series study using secondary data from the Outpatient Information System and Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to identify differences in outpatient care between regions by year and joinpoint regression to estimate temporal trends from 2008 to 2022. Results: The South obtained the highest outpatient physiotherapy visit rates when compared to other Brazilian regions across six consecutive years from 2013 to 2022, except in 2016. Temporal trends in Brazil and the North, Northeast, and Central-West remained stationary between 2008 and 2022. However, there were significant increases of 12.3 and 6.4% in care provided in the South and Southeast, respectively. Spatial distribution by seven-year periods indicated high outpatient visit rates in the South in 2015 and 2022. Conclusion: The temporal trend of outpatient physiotherapy services in Brazil from 2008 to 2022 was stationary in the North, Northeast, and Central-West, but experienced growth in the South and Southeast.