OBJECTIVE:

to propose and present a stratification of Brazilian municipalities into homogeneous groups for evaluation studies of health management performance.

METHODS:

this was a methodological study, with selected indicators which classify municipalities according to conditions that influence the health management and population size; data for the year 2010 were collected from demographic and health databases; correlation tests and factor analysis were used.

RESULTS:

seven strata were identified - Large-sized; Medium-sized with favorable, regular or unfavorable influences; and Small-sized with favorable, regular or unfavorable influences -; there was a concentration of municipalities with favorable influences in strata with better purchasing power and funding, as well as a concentration of municipalities with unfavorable influences in the North and Northeast regions.

CONCLUSION:

the proposed classification grouped similar municipalities regarding influential factors in health management, which allowed the identification of comparable groups of municipalities, setting up a consistent alternative to performance evaluation studies.

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