Intercensal Brazilian municipality stratificatation updating for health performance evaluation, 2015

to describe updating of stratification of the Brazilian municipalities in order to evaluate health performance.

this was a descriptive and methodological study with stratification of municipalities according to population size and conditions influencing health management, using data from the intercensal period (2015) and showing classification variations compared with the census period (2010); the original data on demographic characteristics, funding capacity and population purchasing power were adjusted for the year 2015 based on a baseline study conducted with census data.

some 15% of the municipalities were reclassified in the intercensal period, with the main factors of change being the conditions influencing health management.

the need for intercensal updating of this form of classification was confirmed, given that the socioeconomic conditions of the municipalities vary in the five-year period; Primary Health performance evaluation should consider updated stratifications that include management conditions for the purpose of classification.