Men's health in question: seeking assistance in primary health care

The scope of this study was to analyze the socio-demographic profile, morbidity and frequency of seeking of adult men enrolled in a Family Doctor Program for health care in Niterói in the State of Rio de Janeiro. It is a cross-sectional study using secondary data, files and records of the first care visit in November 2003 through August 2009. The frequencies of the variables studied and the prevalence rates among those who sought and those who did not seek attention were calculated. Among the 323 men registered, 56% sought attendance. The main reason given for the first visit was a routine appointment. It was observed that 43 men were overweight, 26 were obese and 44 had abnormal blood pressure. The profile of the men who sought and those who did not seek care presented statistically significant differences (p< 0.05) for: age, education level, social security and reference to morbidity at the time of registration. Older men with social security reporting some morbidity sought health services more often. It is necessary to broaden the studies to acquire more input for public health actions and policies that contemplate this population segment and its specificities.