Objective:

to describe the first choice for use of health services and to analyze sociodemographic factors associated with seeking Primary Health Care (PHC) by the adult population of Brazil’s Federal District in 2015.

Methods:

this was a population-based study, with 2,007 individuals, using a sample from the 2015 VIGITEL survey conducted by landline telephone, including questions on use of health services; we used logistic regression to identify factors associated with seeking PHC services.

Results:

participants’ first choice was predominantly for private health services (57.6%), respondents reported seeking public health services less (39.5%), particularly PHC services (primary health centers: 24.6%); multivariate analysis showed that educational level (postgraduate [OR=0.15 - 95% CI 0.04;0.59] and high school [OR=0.37 - 95%CI 0.18;0.75]), and not having private health insurance (OR=27.77 - 95%CI 10.61;72.70) were variables associated with seeking PHC services.

Conclusion:

individuals with low educational level and without private health insurance are those who mostly seek PHC services as their first choice in Brazil’s Federal District.

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