NUMBER OF HOSPITAL BEDS: AN ANALYSIS OF SPATIAL DEPENDENCE IN MINAS GERAIS

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to analyze how the demand for hospital beds in the municipalities of Minas Gerais between the years 2008 and 2020 was affected by the variables studied, controlling spatial dependence. To answer the central question of the research, the following variables were used: number of doctors, health expenditure per capita, age group, dummy for COVID-19 cases, proportion of hospital admissions for conditions sensitive to primary care and proportion of the population served in the Family Health Strategy, verifying the impact of the variables studied on the availability of hospital beds in the municipalities of Minas Gerais between 2008 and 2020. The methodology used was Spatial Panel Data and the data were collected from the Federal Government's DATASUS system and at Fundação João Pinheiro, through the Minas Gerais Social Responsibility Index (IMRS). Monetary values ​​were deflated by the IGPD-I provided by the Central Bank of Brazil. The results showed that the availability of beds suffers interference and has a spatial correlation with age group, proportion of hospitalizations for conditions sensitive to primary care, number of doctors and dummy for COVID-19.