Impact of the Family Health Program on the quality of vital information and reduction of child unattended deaths in Brazil: an ecological longitudinal study

Abstract Background Vital information, despite of being an important public health instrument for planning and evaluation, in most of the developing countries have still low quality and coverage. Brazil has recently implemented the Family Health Program (PSF), one of the largest comprehensive primary health care programs in the world, which demonstrated effectiveness on the reduction of infant mortality. In the present study we evaluate the impact of the PSF on mortality rates related to the quality of vital information: the under-five mortality rate due to ill-defined causes and unattended death. Methods Data on mortality rates and PSF coverage was obtained for the total 5,507 Brazilian municipalities from 2000 to 2006. A multivariate regression analysis of panel data was carried out with a negative binomial response by using fixed effects models that control for relevant covariates. Results A statistically significant negative association was observed between PSF coverage levels, classified in none (0%, the reference category), low ( Conclusions The PSF, a primary health care program developed mostly in rural and deprived areas, had an important role on reducing the unattended deaths and improving the quality of vital information in Brazil.