Abstract
Objective: evaluate the appropriateness of health services performance in primary care and medium / high complexity activities in Brazilian regions and states from 1998 to 2010. Methods: data obtained from national health information systems on births, notifiable diseases, inpatient and outpatient care and demographic data from Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística were used to calculate standardized rates, averages, ratios and proportions to Brazil, regions and federal units in the period from 1998 to 2010. Results: The best performance of health services in primary care was observed only in the number of prenatal care consultations, probably due to the expansion of primary care during the period under study. In medium / high complexity activities, there was a progress in the percentage of computadorized tomography scans performed in patients with stroke that reach, respectively, values around 61% e 33% in 2010. Conclusion: a better evaluation of appropriateness is dependent on the implementation of equitative health politics and practices as well as changes in the administrative records.
