Evaluating comprehensiveness in children's healthcare.

Objective: To evaluate the presence and extent of comprehensiveness in children's healthcare in the context of the Family Health Strategy.

Method: Evaluative, quantitative, cross-sectional study conducted with 344 family members of children at the Family Health Units of João Pessoa, PB, Brazil. Data were collected using the PCATool Brazil - child version and analysed according to descriptive and exploratory statistics.

Results: The attribute of comprehensiveness did not obtain satisfactory scores in the two evaluated dimensions, namely "available services" and "provided services". The low scores reveal that the attribute comprehensiveness is not employed as expected in a primary care unit and points to the issues that must be altered.

Conclusion: It was concluded that the services should be restructured to ensure cross-sector performance in the provision of child care. It is also important to improve the relations between professionals and users to promote comprehensive and effective care.