Late access for orthopedic appointments in the Brazilian national health system: types of pain and use of medicines

Cross-sectional study conducted on patients of the Brazilian National Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde– SUS) who make use of the Consórcio Público Intermunicipal de Saúde do Setentrião Paranaense– CISAMUSEP5, for specialized medical appointment in orthopedics. Its aim is to estimate the prevalence of medication use and its association with sociodemographic factors, lifestyles and pain scales. An instrument was deployed in three parts: 1. Socio-epidemiological and demographic data (age, gender, weight, education level and family income) and analysis of NSAIDs (medicines and their pharmaceutical form used, time of use, frequency, place of obtaining); 2. Validated pain assessment – McGill Pain Questionnaire (Portuguese version); 3. Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire. 86 SUS patients served by CISAMUSEP’s orthopedics were evaluated. The outcome was 53.5% female patients and 46.5% male patients. The majority, 48.8%, were between 30 and 60 years old. The prevailing time of schooling was 9 to 12 years (40.7%). Regarding the referred income and converted into minimum wages in effect in May 2015, 47.7% of the patients received one salary. In the correlation between the gender of the interviewees and the variables, a statistically significant association among gender and type of medicine purchased, type of pain, Current Pain Index (CPI), accompanying symptoms, sleep, activities and food intake was made evident. The patients are not the same in representing their problems and necessities.