Adherence to Speech-Language Pathology treatment in a Basic Health Unit in the central region of the city of São Paulo Thesis by Danielle Dourado de Carvalho. Advisor: Adriana Limongeli Gurgueira

Introduction: Adhering to health treatment is essential for therapeutic success. It is observed that the scientific production with the theme “adherence to treatment” has been increasing. However, little is known about adherence to speech therapy treatment. This fact is intriguing, considering the unfavorable consequences for both patients and health services. Therefore, it is imminent to originate research that aims to investigate adherence to treatment in the field of speech therapy, especially in Basic Health Units, considered the main gateway to the Unified Health System (SUS). Objective: To describe the professional profile of speech therapists, speech therapists and verify the rate of adherence to speech therapy in a Basic Health Unit in the central region of the city of São Paulo. Method: In Phase 1, the casuistry was composed of speech therapists working in the Basic Health Units in the central region of the city of São Paulo, submitted to respond to the form to characterization of factors related to adherence to speech therapy treatment from the point of view of speech therapists. In Phase 2, the casuistry consisted of medical records of patients who underwent speech therapy treatment at a Basic Health Unit in the central region of the city of São Paulo, the information from the medical records was extracted from the Script – Collection of data from medical records. Results: In Phase 1, five professionals participated, 100% (n= 5) female, with a mean age of 36.2 years, mean time since graduation in Speech Therapy of 14.0 years (SD= 7.7) and 80% (n= 4) attended graduate school. In Phase 2, 761 records were checked, with 319 records subject to analysis. Of the 319 charts analyzed, 57% were female, with a mean age of 39.4 years (SD=29.3), with a mean follow-up of 8.4 months (SD=8.2). Conclusions: No professional has a postgraduate degree in Collective/Public Health. Speech therapy services are performed in a mixed way (individual and in groups) in their majority, with patients of both sexes, predominant age group of 0 to 10 years, with involvement in oral language mostly. The rate of adherence to speech therapy in a Basic Health Unit in the central region of the city of São Paulo is 1.6% of cases.