Assessment of the quality of primary care for the elderly according to the Chronic Care Model.

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate the quality of care provided to older people with diabetes mellitus and/or hypertension in the Primary Health Care (PHC) according to the Chronic Care Model (CCM) and identify associations with care outcomes.

METHOD: cross-sectional study involving 105 older people with diabetes mellitus and/or hypertension. The Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care (PACIC) questionnaire was used to evaluate the quality of care. The total score was compared with care outcomes that included biochemical parameters, body mass index, pressure levels and quality of life. Data analysis was based on descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression.

RESULTS: there was a predominance of females and a median age of 72 years. The median PACIC score was 1.55 (IQ 1.30-2.20). Among the PACIC dimensions, the "delivery system design/decision support" was the one that presented the best result. There was no statistical difference between the medians of the overall PACIC score and individual care outcomes. However, when the quality of life and health satisfaction were simultaneously evaluated, a statistical difference between the medians was observed.

CONCLUSION: the low PACIC scores found indicate that chronic care according to the CCM in the PHC seems still to fall short of its assumptions.