Therapeutic itinerary and access to health services in cases of oral cancer deaths

ABSTRACT Objective: to characterize the therapeutic itinerary followed by individuals who died from oral cancer in one area in the northeastern of Brazil, measuring the distances and average time spent in the searching for diagnosis and treatment service. Methods: this is an epidemiological, cross-sectional, retrospective study, where the key informants were interviewed and the points of residence and services were geo-referenced. The variables related to the location of diagnosis, the distance traveled and the time spent for the diagnostic sites, treatment and place of death, services used during the therapeutic course and the main access difficulties were studied. Percent differences were tested using Fisher's exact test, with α = 5%. To evaluate the behavior and the identification of hot areas for this mortality, the Kernel density estimator technique was used. Results: of the 18 cases of death due to oral cancer, 94.4 % were diagnosed in reference centers; 83.3% were diagnosed and treated for up to 60 days; 77.8% were diagnosed and died in less than one year, and in 72.2 %, financials reasons were identified as an obstacle to access to a health care provider. The average distance traveled to the diagnoses sites was 7,364.7 meters, with an average time spent of 32.67 min and for treatment, it was 6,987.5 meters and 33.68 min. Conclusion: the study showed that the diagnosis of the injury occurred predominantly outside the municipality of residence, although , people walked a fairly small distance to the health services, spending about half an hour for this displacement.