Geographical distribution of physiotherapists in Brazil

ABSTRACT One of the main global problems in the health field is the inequality of the distribution of health professionals between capitals and inland cities. The World Health Organization recommends recruitment and placement policies to make the access to health easier for these populations. Studies concerning the distribution of physiotherapists are still little known. This study analyzed the spatial correlation and the availability of physiotherapists in Brazil by resident population. It is a quantitative, analytical and descriptive study made through analysis of secondary data referring to the number of physiotherapists with definitive enrollment, by region, made available by the 16 Regional Councils of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy between May and September 2016, from databases of the 2010 IBGE Census and of the geographic coordinates in the Google Maps virtual system. Spatial analyzes were carried out through georeferencing, from a Geoprocessing Database, and ARCGIS 10.5 software was used to produce thematic maps. It was observed very high density of physiotherapists in the Southeast region and a large area of lack of these professionals in the North region, with influence of the economic development in the distribution of these professionals between those regions. The study concluded that in small cities, mainly in the inland parts of the North, there is not enough physiotherapists as recommended, and in regions with a greater economic development there are more professionals available for the job market.